Chapter 5 - Another homecoming

BPOV

Alice zipped downstairs ahead of me. I took it more slowly. I wasn't sure if I was ready for Rosalie yet. I had only been alone or had been surrounded by love in this new body. I hadn't yet had to control myself against less pleasant feelings. I wasn't sure how I would handle myself if Rosalie was mean to me. So I was hesitant to meet her.

'Emmett,' I heard her perfect voice float up towards me. I paused where I was. Wow. Was all I could think for a moment. I'd thought Rosalie's voice was beautiful when I was still human, but with this new vampire hearing... somehow it seemed even more melodious and somehow graceful than ever before. I sighed inwardly. coming face to face with her was probably going to be a blow for my self esteem. If her voice was already so much more, how beautiful would the rest of her be to my new eyes?

'You can't jump her. You have to be calm. We can't overwhelm her.' There was a note of worry in her voice, I couldn't quite place it. Was she worried I would hurt Emmett? I sighed and decided to head down. I could hardly stay up here for the rest of the day.

'There she is.' Alice announced as I appeared at the top of the stairs. All eyes turned to me and I groaned inwardly. Why did they all have to stare?
I kept my eyes on my feet as I walked down the stairs. I knew I had a better sense of equilibrium in this new body, but I still didn't quite trust myself not to fall on my face.
Emmett was for a change not laughing at me yet and I wanted to keep it that way. When my feet finally touched the ground I looked up. Rosalie was closest to me and I was right. Her beauty was overwhelming. i took her in slowly as my eyes racked up her body. everything about her had screamed supermodel when i'd been human, now it was more like goddess. I bit my lip and quickly looked up to her face, realizing I was quite rudely staring at her body. As my eyes settled on her face I was taken aback by the kind expression on her face. My eyes quickly skipped over to Emmett who was slightly further away. I had been intimidated by his sheer size when I'd been human, but right now every fibre of my vampire body wanted to run like hell as my eyes took in his huge form. the muscles that coiled around his arms and shoulders were intimidating like hell. I sucked in a claming breath, repeating over and over that it was Emmett, the goofiest biggest teddybear that I had ever met. I quickly brought my eyes up from his intimidating body to focus on his face. For some inexplicable reason though, he carried a dumbstruck expression.

'Hi' I said softly.

'Damn you look hot.' Emmett exclaimed. My mouth popped open in shock. Rosalie's head whipped around and she threw Emmett a glare. Alice smiled and Jasper let out a short bark of laughter. He quickly started backtracking. 'No.. I mean.. the change.. she's just… you know…' he stammered.

I smiled at him reassuringly. I was sure he would have been blushing if he'd been able. 'It's alright Emmett. I've had some improvements. It's true.' I said quickly to spare him. He let out a relieved sigh and threw Rosalie an apologetic smile. She shook her head at him but a small smile tugged at her lips.

'Welcome back Bella.' Rosalie said softly. I glanced up at her and then smiled timidly.

'Alice filled us in on what our idiot brother did. I'm sorry you felt we abandoned you.' Emmett said. His voice sounded sincere and it looked like it actually pained him to think they had made me feel that way.

'It's alright Emmett. I'm just glad you want me back.' I said, smiling at Carlisle and Esme. They nodded to me.

Emmett smiled too. 'I missed you, little sister.' He said. Then he stepped forward, holding out his arms. 'May I?' he asked.

I looked at him surprised when had he ever asked my permission? I smiled and stepped into his embrace. He squeezed me tightly and I smiled against his chest. Even though I was a lot less breakable, I still felt incredibly small in Emmett's arms. He released me and stepped back. Then he looked at Rosalie pointedly.

'Bella.' She said. I turned to her. 'I'm sorry about my behaviour before… I knew I was unfair to you, but I couldn't handle that you would willingly give everything up. You had everything I wanted and I felt so jealous because of that.' She paused to look away. 'However, that doesn't excuse my behaviour and I hope you can in time forgive me for that.' I was frozen with shock. Did Rosalie just apologize to me?
She turned back to look at me. 'I'm sorry this happened to you. You didn't chose this, and although you did know what to expect, I know it can't be easy for you to change so suddenly without preparation and so violently, at the hands of an enemy. I just wanted you to know how sorry I am for you and that if you ever need to talk… I'm here for you.' She said, ending with a small hopeful smile.

I couldn't move. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Rosalie was apologizing. Rosalie wanted to help me through this. Rosalie was smiling at me!
I was feeling so many things I couldn't make sense of it anymore. I let out a sound, somewhere between a whimper and a squeak.

'Jasper.' Alice barked – a command. Jasper swept in next to me and clamped his hand around the back of my neck. Calm swept through me in almost a mind numbing amount. I took a deep gasping breath as my mind cleared and the turmoil lifted. I blinked a few times and took in the tense faces of my family.

'Sorry' I muttered. 'I was just overwhelmed.' I said.

Jasper nodded. 'It's okay Bella. Don't apologize. We've all been there. These first few weeks are the hardest. You've been amazing so far. You don't have to apologize for anything. I'm glad to help you.'

I smiled at him gratefully. Then I turned to Rosalie. 'Thank you, Rosalie. You have no idea what it means for me to hear that.' I said earnestly. A breath taking smile swept across her features and I smiled back. I hoped she was serious about her offer, because I knew I was struggling here and there with this new change. She hesitantly came closer and stretched out her arms.

'May I?' she asked. I nodded and she took me in her arms. Although we were both stiff and I certainly was slightly uncomfortable, it meant a lot to me.

We settled into the living room and talked about everything that had happened when they had left Forks under the impression I was scared of them until now. I was startled by the fact that they had seemed to struggle as much as me to pick up their lives again. They seemed almost distraught at having me gone as I was to be separated from them. I settled down quickly again after the incident when Jasper had to help me. But after that one time, he pulled back his gift again and I found I could deal with everything on my own again. I was glad to see Rosalie and Emmett rejoin the family. Esme was ecstatic to have them home again and they spent a long time catching up as well. I was surprised by how easily we all seemed to settle back into a rhythm. It felt as if we'd all been living like a family for years, yet we'd only truly been together these few hours. In my human days I had always been with Edward. I had always felt they tolorated me because of that fact. But here I was sat between Esme and Alice on the couch absolutely basking in the love that was all around us. It felt like I was with family, even more than when I'd still been with Renee, or Charlie. This it seemed was the family I was destined to be with. It seemed I was truly home.

EPOV

Alice's message had been cryptic enough, but now she was blatantly refusing to speak to me. I knew I deserved it, seeing as I had ignored her for much longer. But something about her phonecall had bothered me. I had spent a day dalying and stalling, trying to reach her. Trying to get her to reach me. I was certain she was being bombarded with visions of me asking her to call me, asking her to pick up, probably a few of me yelling at her as well. I couldn't place it exactly, but something was up. I just knew it. I had finally given up when she had not called me after 24 hours. So I continued with my journey. I headed to the airport and started looking for a direct flight to New Hampsire. Of course those hadn't been available at sort notice. The only option was a flight that left in three hours, that would take me first to Mexico city where i would have a lay-over of four hours before heading to Louisville Kentucky. I had decided to book it and then I'd see what my option were once I would arrive in Lousiville.

It was twilight as we started boarding the plane in Buenos Aires. The stewardess scanned my ticket and was mentally screaming at me to do whatever I wanted with her. i flinched at the explicitness of her thoughts. I flashed her a wide grin as I thanked her and took back my ticket. I made sure to show her all of my teeth. It worked. With the one reason in my life for happiness gone forever I did not have the energy to put up the human pretenses anymore. I simply didn't care anymore if they were scared of me or not. I pushed my way past the now very shocked stewardess and headed onto the plane. I sat down and closed my eyes, pretending to sleep for the rest of the onboarding proces. It wasn't until we were in the air that I opened my eyes again. I stared out of the window for a while mulling over what I was going to do when I would arrive in Louisville. It was about a fifteen hour drive to New Hampshire. I wasn't sure if I even wanted to get another flight. I had only been on this one for a few hours and already I was impatient to get out. And I had another flight ahead of me. I let out a small groan. I wasn't used to having pretend to be human again. I had been secluded, wallowing in my own misery for a while now. Perhaps I would just rent a car when I got to Louisville. Or buy one.

I couldn't seem to settle down as I sat in my first class seat. The stewardess kept walking past, seeing if I needed anything. I had been about to snap at her that I didn't want anything from her, when I was surprised by the kindness in her thoughts.

He looks so upset, so sad... I wish I could make him feel better She thought as she glanced at me from the corner of her eye. I sighed and hung my head in my heads. Was I really such a lost cause that even humans were picking up on my emotions now? I sat back against my seat again and pulled out my phone. It had been a day since I'd tried calling her. I had even texted her, which I hated doing. But still she ignored me. I glanced at my phone again to see no new messages. I sighed and almost stuffed the phone back in my pocket, before I decided I could let Esme know I was coming home. I dialled her number and she picked up on the fifth ring. Later than was normal for her.
The sound of wind rushing past the phone was clear. She was running?

'Edward,' She breathed into the phone.

'Mom' I greeted her, I made sure to call her mom more often. I knew my separation hurt her enough already. So throwing her these little endearments would make her feel better. 'I just wanted to let you know I'm on my way.'

The wind stopped. 'To New Hampshire?' She asked. I was confused by her tone. Normally I wouldn't have to elaborate anything because she would already be overjoyed.

'Yes.' I answered anyway.

'Good. That's good.' She said, but she sounded unsure.

'Are you alright, Esme? Is something wrong?' I asked, getting slightly worried now.

'No' She quickly said. 'No everything is fine. When will you arrive?'

'I land in Kentucky in about 22 hours from now. Then I have to find a flight to New Hampshire, or I'll buy a car, I haven't decided yet. But I'll probably arrive there between two or three days from now.'

'Alright. Are you staying this time?' She asked, her voice slightly hopeful. I hated to do this to her. I knew I was hurting her by staying away, but I knew I was a mess. It would hurt her and the rest of my family more if I stayed. I didn't want them to have to put up with me. I sighed.

'I'm sorry Esme. I'm not sure yet.' I said.

She didn't argue why I should stay, which surprised me. 'Alright.' She only said. 'be safe.' She added.

'Always.' I said. Then I hung up. I settled back in my seat and brooded over what Alice could have in store. I was quite sure Esme was in on it too.