A/N: Remember… poll….

Chapter 39

Days turned into nights, nights turned into weeks, and inevitably weeks turned into months. I hadn't heard from Edward at all. I knew that Alice talked to him, but their conversations were always brief when she was with me. It started to seem as if Edward was just something I had dreamed up. The sad thing was, that it hurt more to know that he was alive and wasn't with me. Weird? I know. But just imagine what it would be like to have half of your heart not functioning. That's how it was for me. He was there, but without seeing or hearing from him, it was like he wasn't there. I always kept my feelings bottled up though, for Alice, for Jake, and for Charlie.

Thanksgiving passed too quickly and before I knew it so had Christmas. I was sitting back in class at the not so prestigious Forks High School. This also meant that Jake was back to work. He was working on training Bailey and it was coming along rather well. Of course basically all he was doing was morphing into his "inner dog" as I jokingly called his wolf form. Bailey was a little stubborn though.

The first time Bailey saw Jake in his wolf form she squealed and hid behind my leg. I just laughed but she refused to stand anywhere near him. In result Jake changed back to his human form, which earned me a couple peeks. For once, Jake was the one blushing.

The shopping trip with Jake and Alice started to get better as time progressed. Alice insisted on buying either Bailey or me the whole store but after I argued with her I got her down to just the essentials. Alice even made up some fake adoption papers so she could officially say she was Bailey's godmother. It had Charlie and Renee as the grandparents and Jake as the uncle. She even went as far as to put Phil in as the step-grandfather. I just loved all her bundled up energy.

"Bella!" Alice waved me over to our lunch table.

"Alice, we sit here everyday. It's not like I don't know that." I picked on her.

"Oh be quiet Bella." She turned behind her and pulled out the bag of one of those designer people. "Look what I found Bailey!" She pulled out three Bailey-sized outfits.

"Alice! I am not going to put that on her." I glanced back at the bag. "Where did you get those?"

Alice's eyes grew wide with sadness. "B-b-but it's her two month 'I came to live with my new mommy' birthday." She pouted and I thought she was seriously going to cry.

I groaned. "Fine, but you're going to put them on her. She won't let me."

Alice grinned. "Great! I'll come over after school." It was a statement, not a question.

I finished my lunch and decided to head to the library. I logged on to the computer and disabled the content blocker. Alice had gone overboard on the whole Bailey safety thing and she had a webcam installed in Bailey's play area.

To humor Alice, I typed in the web address and clicked to view Bailey's webcam. The image I found shocked me. A blonde haired man was in the background and he was staring directly at the camera. He inhaled deeply and I could barely make out Bailey. She was cowering away in the background.

"Bella?" Alice called from the library entrance.

"Alice, quick! Come here!" I called to her frantically.

"What?" She skipped over to me and peered at the camera. "Oh Bella! You're using the webcam!"

"Someone's in my house." I pointed to the man in the background.

She gasped. "Oh no!" She turned around and whipped open her cell phone.

She was talking quickly and I couldn't understand her. I watched as the man walked around my room and picked up various items of clothes that had been strewn around the room placing them next to his nose and inhaling deeply. Fear was racked through my body at the thought of Bailey getting hurt. I had only had her for a couple of months but she had brought so much joy to my life.

"Let's go." Alice yanked me from my stool and with a couple of clicks on of the mouse she had the history deleted, the blocker back on, and had me logged out of my account.

I didn't have much time to do anything else. She dragged me through the doors of the school and out to her bright yellow Porsche. She shoved me in the seat and even went as far as to shut my door for me. She slid over the front of the car like you see guys do in those action movies and then she started up the engine.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked a little scared.

"To my house of course!" She exclaimed like there was no other choice. She threw her phone at me. "Call the dog." She rolled her eyes.

I ignored the names that Jake and Alice had given each other. I quickly dialed the number and Jake picked up. "What do you want leech?"

I sighed. "Hello to you too Jake."

"Oh, hello Bella. What's up?" His tone changed greatly.

"I don't know. Talk to Alice." I handed the phone to Alice and she started talking quickly again. I only got a few words like "nomad, human, and my house" from the entire conversation.

Alice looked to me knowing I would want an answer. "It's hard to explain." She said once she hung up with Jake.

I shrugged. "Yeah, I've heard that a time or two."

EPOV

I was in the middle of my computer science class when my phone buzzed. I slouched down behind the computer and pulled it out looking at the caller ID. Jasper.

"Hello?" I asked a little surprised by the call.

"Hey Edward." I picked up on his ridged voice.

"What's wrong? Is Bella okay?" Aside from talking to Alice now and again I had had very little contact with the rest of the family. Jasper was down on the list of people who would call me.

Jasper didn't answer but hesitated. "Well, a nomad broke in to Bella's house. I guess he caught her scent and decided to stop by."

I thought for a second. "Nomad?"

"Yeah." He answered. "They move from place to place searching for food."

"He was in her house!" I screamed out and I heard giggles from the people in the class.

"Mr. Cullen!" The teacher in the front of the room reprimanded me. "If you would like to talk on your phone, I suggest you leave the room."

"Dude, is this a bad time?" Jasper asked and I heard the wind swirl around him.

Emmett was in the background. "We missed him."

"Alright. Grab the dog and the food." Jasper called to him.

"Well what is your choice Mr. Cullen?" The teacher asked me.

I stood up and made for the door. "Sorry, it's an emergency."

When I got outside I took off at a speed that would make Nascar drivers cringe. I made it to my Volvo and fumbled to find the things I needed for an airplane ticket. "I'll be there as soon as I can." I told him.

"Alright man. Bella will be at our house." Jasper reassured me. "Don't worry. There are six of us and three of them."

"Three? I thought there was only one." I groaned in frustration.

"Sorry. But she's safe. Just trust us." He assured me once again.

"Thanks Jasper." I told him.

"No problem. Be safe." He told me.

"I will." I paused. "Take care of her."

"We will."

BPOV

We pulled up to Alice's mansion of a home and I was still marveled by its beauty. I grabbed my books and followed Alice inside. She opened the door and I heard the familiar sound of nails tapping across the hardwood floor. Bailey came racing toward me and I picked her up hugging her to my chest.

"You're alright!" I kissed her nose and she lathered my face with kisses.

"There's nothing wrong with her bladder that's for sure." A very disgruntled Emmett walked out holding a tube of Clorox wipes. "Hey Bella." He greeted.

"Hey Emmett. Sorry about Bailey." I frowned and looked at her.

Alice pulled her from my arms. "Did you pee on uncle Emmy's carpet?" Alice talked baby talk to Bailey. "Good girl." She giggled. I swore I saw Bailey grin.

"Oh shut up Alice." He growled.

Alice put Bailey on the floor and she made her way to me quickly and I picked her up once again. I hadn't noticed that Alice and Emmett had left the room until the doorbell rang. I looked up to see Alice walk back in the room with a frustrated look on her face.

She yanked open the door. "Good, you're here dog." She greeted Jake harshly.

Jake rolled his eyes. "This isn't my fault. I wanted her to stay away from you." He growled back at her.

"Well he must have wondered why my scent and yours was there. He's not going to stop till her gets her." Great, they were talking about me.

"Um, does someone want to fill me in on what's going on?" I asked them while setting down Bailey.

"No!" The both yelled at me at the same time.

So once again I was clueless Bella. The doorbell rang once again and Alice froze. She grabbed Jake by the front of his shirt and a pretty woman with long brown wavy hair descended the staircase.

"Ah, you must be Bella." She turned to Jake. "And you must be Jacob." She quickly walked over to Bailey and picked her up ushering us to follow her. "Why don't you come with me?"

I looked back to Alice and the doorbell was going off again except this time it was a constant ringing. She gave me a pleading look and I grabbed Jake's hand and urged him to come with me. "Please Jake." I whispered.

He sighed and followed closely behind me. The woman told us her name was Esme and that she was Alice and Emmett's adopted mother. We followed her up three flights of stairs and then through a door on the left. She didn't explain but I felt like I could trust her. Under the distress in her golden eyes I could see the love. She cared about what happened to us.

"Please, stay here. I know we owe you some answers Bella, and I promise you'll get them." With that she left leaving Bailey on the floor chasing her tail.

"I hate when they do that." Jake huffed.

I kept my focus on Jake and although I didn't know what was going on, I felt like I should be scared. Who was the man in my house? When would I be clued in on what was happening? Was the house safe for Charlie? How did Emmett get Bailey here? So many questions, and none of them were to be answered.

Realizing this sent me over the edge. I turned to Jake and he pulled me tight to his chest. "It's okay Bella." He whispered kissing the top of my head. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Finally, something that I could believe.

A/N: Wow, bet you didn't expect that did you? Hope my story isn't getting to 'dull' for you. I'm trying. I saw Twilight today! It was great, although they left out tons of scenes. It was still awesome though!

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Kayla