A/N: Holy shit, an update 2 days later? I can assure you: don't get used to this. I have a list of to-dos for my job (you know, the place that pays me) a mile long I was supposed to get to this weekend. I suspect I won't be sleeping much over the next couple of days to get it all done. Anyway...

Soundtrack:
Scene 1 and 3: Departure (Home) by Max Richter
Scene 2: Viper by Darius Moldovan

Oh and...M rating applies for scene 2...

Eighteen months since Bella seemingly fell from the sky into their laps...eighteen months since Edward had unwillingly become the black sheep of his family. Eighteen months was all it took to turn his life upside down...to go from having the final say over their family's consequential decisions to having none at all. It was enough to make him stew with malcontent for the girl in question, but to his horror the bottomless pit of emotion inside him was lately filled more with heartbreak than anything else.

He had gravely miscalculated when it came to Bella. He miscalculated the depth of his family's affections for her, foolishly assuming their surface-level thoughts signified surface-level feelings as well. And he did not see until too late that the more he pushed, the more he struggled against the quicksand of the new family dynamic with her in their midst, the worst his entrapment became. He didn't dare divulge this to his family-not even Alice-but one of the reasons for his hasty departure was to escape their thoughts about him. Oh they tried admirably hard to hide it, but they couldn't mask it 24/7... he knew better than anyone when he wasn't wanted.

But Edward meant what he said about Victoria too. His role in her (and James' and Laurent's) presence in their lives weighed heavily on him and he desperately wanted to right this wrong. The woman was also a bigger danger to the family than he suspected even she realized; from her thoughts he didn't believe she knew as much about the Volturi as he did thanks to Carlisle's history with them. Aro would understand the dangers someone like Bella represented the second he learned of her existence. The girl's fate was already set in stone, one way or the other. And regardless of what happened to her, his goal now...his ultimate objective for why he was out here hunting for Victoria alone was to mitigate the damage to his family.

The hunt was not going well. Unlike James he was no tracker. Oh he could easily track a human if that's what he was after, but a vampire was a different story. His journey had taken him across large swaths of the Rocky Mountains and into Canada. Every time he caught a whiff of Victoria's scent it seemed to send him in an opposite direction, and he often wondered if she knew exactly what he was doing and was just toying with him. He hadn't yet gotten close enough to even hear her thoughts. As frustrating as this was, at least he knew she was nowhere near Forks. At least he was doing something positive and keeping her away from his family's territory and Bella.

Because yes, despite how much he loathed the way she wormed her way into his family's hearts and dislodged him from his place in their affections, he couldn't help but begrudgingly enjoy her company. Despite everything he'd done and said and what she made him do, Bella was unusually kind to him. Though he couldn't read her at all, she had a knack for reading him...and he pondered again and again on the alternative timeline he secretly fantasized about in which Bella was his lover...his mate. He wouldn't have left her like Rosalie had. He wouldn't have minded her desire to remain and die human...he would never have asked such an abominable thing of her in the first place. He would've been selfless and understood, and would've been content to remain by her side as she lived out her days. He would've helped her make amends for the crimes she committed and when she drew her last breath, he would say goodbye and allow her to rest in peace. It's what he desperately wanted for himself...what he believed they all wanted...yet he was the only one in the family to agree with her view on the matter.

He disposed of the bobcat that was his meal and listened to the Montana breeze rustling in the grass around him. It was dark save for the starlight raining down from the sky. The scent had led him here from Calgary. He could still sense it but it was so weak now, he doubted Victoria was still in the area. Edward tried to pinpoint a new direction, hoped his guess was correct, and hiked westward.

The beat of the music reverberated through the floor beneath Bella's feet, though unlike the throng of swaying bodies packed in the middle of the club she was not dancing. Instead she stuck to a dark corner, trying to stay as inconspicuous as possible; she was underage after all and her luck was bound to run out after a week of frequenting this and other places like it.

She'd gotten very good at spotting the signs that spelled trouble; the glassy, unfocused eyes on women (and the occasional man) who've had either too much alcohol or something extra added to it; the overly helpful stranger or date, eagerly escorting them away from friends and out of the club... It didn't take long for Bella, who had the benefit of zoning in on a conversation, to know exactly who to follow outside and when.

It was here, in establishments just like this one sprinkled all over Seattle that Bella discovered, or rather rediscovered another thrill that sated the beast within.

She had just taken another sip of her drink when the woman at the end of the bar got up and started to walk in her direction. Bella had been listening to the x-rated conversation between her and her friend, who was now looking their way with a smirk on his face. The woman, whom Bella had danced with earlier, caught her eye as she walked past. Bella blinked, but was too well practiced at this now to misunderstand her intentions. She didn't hesitate. Bella downed the rest of her drink and followed her down the hall, confirming her suspicion when she noted the door to the bathroom, the same door the woman had glided through, was unlocked.

After she entered and locked the door behind her, Bella watched and waited. The woman, who was obviously older but couldn't be more than forty and who had grinned roguishly upon seeing Bella in the mirror, slowly leaned forward on the counter and lifted her dress.

Bella watched, mesmerized. The more the woman revealed the hotter the flames inside her burned. And when her hand traveled south, when she started touching herself and Bella saw the evidence of her arousal she finally surged forward, spun her around and captured her lips in hers.

Both moaned out loud when Bella replaced the hand with her own and, wasting no time seeing how wet she was, plunged two fingers inside her. The music had muffled only slightly inside the bathroom, and Bella used the beat to guide her pace. The woman wrapped a leg around her waist, roughly pulling her closer. Bella, sensing that this was how she wanted to play it, fucked her harder still. She groaned loudly in response and weaved her hands into Bella's hair.

It didn't take much more for Bella to bring her over the edge, and she screamed into Bella's hair when she did. The sharp nails in her scalp...the way she squeezed her arms and legs tightly enough around her body to hurt...how she bit down hard at her neck afterwards...they sent Bella to a frenzied place she rarely got to visit with Rosalie who had to be so careful with her.

She positively burned with desire.

"That was...fuck that was...," the older woman was breathing hard with a satisfied smile on her face. "Wow..."

Bella didn't answer. She would rather no words be exchanged at all during these trysts. Instead she pulled the woman down into a searing kiss and let her hands roam over her body, all while shuffling her backwards into the wall. When they could go no further, Bella took a step back and quickly undid her pants. Her eyes remained locked on the other woman's and, when she had fully unzipped the jeans and lowered them, raised an eyebrow impatiently and beckoned her closer.

The woman smirked. "Did you want something?"

But Bella wasn't in the mood for banter. That's not what she had come here for. Catching her by surprise, Bella's hands wrapped around the woman's throat-not dangerously tight but tight enough to give the other woman the thrill she was obviously craving...

Bella kissed her again with so much intensity she stumbled hard into the wall, but the enthusiastic response told her everything she needed to know. She broke the kiss and whispered "on your knees'' into her ear. The older women quickly obliged, Bella's hands guiding her by the hair, her forehead resting on the cold tile, a sigh of pleasure falling from her lips when the woman finally zeroed in on where Bella wanted her. The woman happily lapped at her arousal while Bella tugged hard on her hair and rolled her hips frantically into the eager mouth. Bella knew she was soaked, and the obscene sounds the woman was making between her legs only made her wetter. When she felt her tongue slip inside her...that's when Bella chanced a look in the mirror and found fiery red eyes staring back at her. She swallowed thickly and made sure to block the woman's view while grinding harder into her mouth. She was so close...

Later, she laid spread eagled on the rooftop of her shed and watched a rare Forks cloudless sky. The stars were clearly visible and for once she was tranquil enough to appreciate them.

Was that the 7th or 8th time she had resorted to fucking her way out of violence? She wasn't sure how to count the instances with more than one person. What would horrify the Cullens more, she wondered? She knew the answer to that at least when it came to Rosalie, and the shame of what she was doing settled in her gut like an anvil. But Rosalie forfeited any say over her sex life when she fucking abandoned her. And it isn't like she's monogamous.

A powerful wave of exhaustion finally washed over her. Relieved that her body was allowing her to rest at last, she slipped inside to her bed and closed her eyes.

Emmett trudged up one of the mountain slopes that made up the southern backdrop of the Denali's home. Rosalie was likely up here somewhere unless she had gone hunting. Seeing as she had done that less than a week ago, he figured the mountains would be his best shot.

She had improved significantly under Tanya, Irina and Kate's care. He had carried her from the Hoh rainforest all the way up here, Rosalie kicking and screaming, but he had little choice. He couldn't bear to watch her petrify before his very eyes and he knew when to call for backup. At least she hunted her own food now. At least he wasn't afraid to leave her alone for more than a few minutes anymore.

But enough was enough.

"I know you're up there, Rosalie!" He shouted when he caught her scent. She gave him the courtesy of staying put at the very least. He had grown tired chasing after her when he tried, again and again, to talk her out of her funk and she wanted no part in such conversation. Perhaps his intentions tonight were more obvious than he thought, for he wasn't here to talk her into or out of anything. Not anymore.

"I'm going back, Rose," he said as soon as she was in view.

That got a reaction, he was satisfied to note. She turned and finally looked at him.

"What?"

"No whats, buts, or nuts. I'm leaving. Right now."

"Just like that?"

He shrugged and tried to rein in the frustration he felt nearly all the time now. "I tried. Gave it my best shot. You can't say I haven't. I know you're safe here with the Denali's and seeing as you insist on making the wrong fucking decision despite everyone telling you it is, there's no reason for me to stay here."

"No reason? I'm your mate!" She sputtered.

"And Bella is yours," he shot back. "Hasn't stopped you from running her under the bus."

"That's different."

"You're right. It's worse. How many times have you run out on her? How many times did you promise it wouldn't happen again? I love you, Rose, and I can take a lot. But your selfishness is hurting my best friend."

"I'm being selfish," she hissed. "She's-"

"Save it, Rosalie. I'm not here to argue with you." He walked closer until he was leaning down right next to her. "I'm here to say goodbye and to give you this."

He handed her something, a clipping from the Seattle Times that Alice and Jasper had faxed that evening, and watched her eyes gloss over the words. In an instant her face, which had shown nothing but apathy or anger until that point, shone with a hint of something else: worry.

"She needs help," he said gently. "I think she needs you the most, but I'll do my best. I'll try to convince her to change her mind too."

He stood back up. Rosalie was staring at the article in her hands, an eye-witness account of a rape in progress, interrupted thanks to the perpetrator experiencing excuritiaing pain throughout his body, later discovered to be caused by burns he swore weren't there before...

"Now I would normally say take all the time you need," he said, "but if we can't persuade her then Bella doesn't have that kind of time. There are no do-overs here, Rose."

A/N: Phew, well that was interesting. It's been years since I've written a sex scene. It took a number of sittings to get the words out, and believe me I was less than thrilled to be writing such a scene without any of the emotion that's usually there between Bella and Rosalie. It couldn't be too gratuitous because that generally isn't my style, but I explicitly (haha) needed to make it clear exactly what Bella was doing and that her tastes were...evolving.

Anyway, pleeeeease leave some comments. I would love to know what you think. I won't be offended if you hated it on principle cause hey, I'm not wild about it either. But this was critical to Bella's character development and has been in the works for a looong time, so I stand by it 100%.