Bree POV

I felt in a bit of a daze. I seemed to be in a hospital-like room that I'd never previously noticed in the house. I was vaguely aware of others in the room, and Carlisle was asking me questions like when I last hunted and what I'd had, and what human food I ate earlier.

I didn't think vampires could get sick, and judging by everyone else's reactions, they didn't either. I wanted to reassure Esme and Rosalie that I was fine to stop them from worrying, but I couldn't find my voice. And I was slightly concerned that if I opened my mouth, I'd puke. I was never going to eat human food ever again.

Suddenly, a wave of nausea came over me strongly. Carlisle must have been able to tell what was wrong, and he dashed across the room and returned with a bowl. I emptied my stomach into it, coughing and feeling generally vile. I heard movement behind me, and assumed that my mother and sister were suitably disgusted and had to leave, but then to my surprise, I felt gentle cool hands holding my hair back as I continued to puke up my guts into the bowl in Carlisle's hands. Esme's gentle voice soothed me a little as she rubbed comforting circles on my back with her free hand.

Eventually, after a few minutes of dry heaving, I laid back on the bed, and realised there were tears streaming down my cheeks. This was horrible. I'd hoped I'd feel better once the offending food had got out of my system, but it hadn't really made a difference. I felt helpless as I laid on the bed. Esme stayed at my side, holding my hand and squeezing my shoulder, her face full of concern. Rosalie had indeed fled the room, apparently unable to stand the stench. I didn't blame her, sick was gross.

A few hours passed, and very little changed. Carlisle had brought a stash of medical journals and books into the room, and was sat a desk in the corner, reading furiously. I somehow doubted any of them had useful information on vampire pathophysiology, but I appreciated his endeavour. Esme had joined me on the bed, and I curled up into her side. Something about her presence made me feel a little better; I wasn't sure if it was her ice-cold skin, or the sensation of being comforted by my mother, but it felt nice. We stayed that way all through the night, Carlisle reading, me snuggled into Esme's chest, and various of my siblings popping their heads in from time to time.

Eventually it was daybreak, and the sun began to rise into the cloudy sky. The sickness had subsided slightly throughout the night, and I found I was feeling slightly better. I had the sudden urge to go outside and get fresh air. I felt like that would be the final key to solving everything. Esme felt me stir as I shifted slightly to sit up from her embrace.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" She asked, her voice full of motherly concern.

"A bit better." I admitted. "I think some fresh air might help." I added, as Carlisle came over and laid a hand across my forehead as if to check for a fever. Could vampires have a fever? This was all so weird, and I don't think anybody understood.

"You certainly look a bit better." Carlisle observed, with a comforting smile. I smiled weakly back. "Fresh air certainly won't do any harm." He agreed. And gestured towards the door that opened onto a balcony. I carefully stood up, fearful of falling down, but found I was relatively steady on my feet. Esme zoomed round the bed and re-joined me at my side, leading me towards the door. The cool morning air did feel soothing as we stepped onto the balcony. I took a few deep breaths of the fresh air, and felt more and more relieved with each one. Fresh air did seem to be the answer. I never wanted to go back inside again. I wanted to go deeper and deeper into the forest.

"Can we go for a walk?" I asked Esme, hopefully. She smiled.

"If you're feeling ok, sure." She agreed, and gently leapt off the balcony to the forest floor below. I followed suit, and soon we were walking deeper into the forest surrounding the house, guided by some unseen force. I didn't know where I was going, but my feet seemed to know. Eventually we stopped, and a wave of nausea passed through me again. This time it seemed to affect Esme more though, and she stumbled back a few paces, looking ill.

"Esme?" I called, but she didn't seem to hear me. I panicked, and turned around.

"Fred?!" I exclaimed in shock at the tall blond vampire in front of me.

"Bree!" He called back. He sounded happy. "I thought it was you I saw in Seattle! I thought you were dead!" Fred wrapped me in a huge hug.

"What are you doing here?" I exclaimed in delight.

"When you didn't come to Vancouver, I assumed you must have died. I got curious and decided to head back to the area to see if I could find out what happened. I just got to Seattle yesterday and came across the scent of a group of vampires." He paused. "Are you with the yellow-eyes now?!" He asked, incredulous.

"Yes!" I grinned. "They're actually really kind. I didn't want to fight, so they let me surrender, and then convinced the vampire police not to kill me, and took me in as part of their family. And-" I cut off abruptly, something nagging at the back of my mind. "Your eyes!" I gasped, suddenly fully noticing them. "They're gold too!" Fred grinned.

"I spent a long time in the Canadian wilderness, and I got pretty desperate for food. With no humans around, I ended up hunting some animals, and decided that wasn't too bad. I never really liked the savage killing anyway."

"Me neither!" I grinned, and hugged Fred again. "Oh I'm so glad to see you! I never thought I'd see you again!" I didn't let go of Fred's waist, and he wrapped his arms around me again. "You have to come inside and meet the Cullens! Oh, Esme!" I gasped, remembering she'd come out here with me. I turned around, but I couldn't see her. "Where did she go?!" I gasped.

"Oh, she'll have gone back to the house I guess. I wasn't sure about showing myself to her, so I repelled her away when I let you in." Fred explained, as we started walking the short distance back to the house. As the house came into view, I spotted the faces of all my family stood by the back door, looking somewhat confused.

"There you are! Thank God." Esme called, relieved. Now I was confused. What was going on?!

"Esme came back from the walk into the forest without you, and didn't seem to remember ever having you with her. We were about to send out a search party." Edward explained, answering my unasked question. Suddenly everything clicked into place. I turned to Fred.

"Was it you making me sick?" I accused, and he smiled guiltily.

"Bree who are you talking to?" Rosalie asked, sounding concerned.

"Can they not see you?" I asked Fred, and he shook his head. "Well then I must look delusional right now. It's ok, you can show yourself." Fred looked at me warily, but obediently let down his wall of repulsion that was apparently keeping my family from seeing him, and they gasped.

"It's ok, this is Fred, who I told you about before. He's my friend!" I reassured my family. Jasper looked wary. "He's not going to hurt anyone, right Fred?" I added, to try to calm Jasper.

"She's right." Alice said, airily. "Fred is not a danger. And he's already a vegetarian." She added, matter-of-factly, and they all turned to stare at Fred's eyes. "Hi Fred, I'm Alice." She added, bounding up to him. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Fred looked at me, warily, and I laughed. "Alice can see the future, so in her mind, you're probably already best friends." I explained, and Fred looked impressed. The rest of the family followed Alice's lead, and introduced themselves. Eventually, we headed inside and settled on the sofas in the living room.

"So, it was your fault I was sick?" I asked Fred again. He laughed.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I was trying to get your attention without letting the others know I was there, because I wasn't sure how they'd react. I hoped you'd recognise the sensation and realise it was me, but I guess I pushed it a bit far. I laid off after you started puking. Sorry." He said again, and this time I laughed.

"And here I was, blaming it on the Spaghetti Bolognese." Everybody joined in laughing with me.

"And then when Bree and Esme went into the forest?" Carlisle asked, intrigued.

"I can specifically repel people, and even make them forget that I exist. I managed to push that shield over Bree, so Esme couldn't see her or even remember being with her. Sorry if that was a bit alarming when she came back alone!" Fred smirked.

"That's quite the gift. I guess we're incredibly lucky you chose not to fight against us a few months ago, or the outcome could have been quite different." Carlisle mused.

"What made you stop drinking human blood?" Jasper asked, sounding slightly impressed.

"As I said to Bree earlier, when she didn't meet me in Vancouver, I ended up wandering through the Canadian wilderness aimlessly, and eventually strayed so far away from civilization that animals were the only hunting option. Like Bree, I never really enjoyed the lifestyle of mindless killing in the newborn army, so I actually kinda prefer drinking animal blood."

I smiled up at Fred, and for perhaps the first time, I really looked at his face. He was gorgeous. I realised he must have finally let his defences all the way down, something he'd never done in our time in the newborn army. He smiled warmly back at me, and a pleasant warmth filled my chest.

Did anybody guess correctly? :D

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