Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight

Author's note: Wow, I sure pissed a bunch of you off last chapter. I was surprised to see that some of you are still hoping Rosalie will leave Emmett. This is the one spoiler I don't mind sharing, mainly because I've said it repeatedly before. Rosalie is in love with Emmett. Rosalie is in love with Bella. That's not going to change. I get that this is radical but come on people...this is tame when you look at some of the crazy Twilight fanfics out there. So chill.

True to his word, Charlie started teaching Bella to drive as soon as she returned from the beach. Having a cop for a father had its benefits and Charlie managed to speed the process up for her when he saw how quickly she caught on. By the end of January (and with only a few minor scrapes to the already weathered truck) Bella had her intermediate driver's license. Wherever Bella was, the ancient truck was never far. Suffice it to say, Rosalie was less than pleased.

"It's not enough you're driving this hideous monstrosity," Rosalie huffed. "You're making me fix it too?"

Rosalie was bent over and half-hidden from the waist up. Her favorite coveralls were covered in grease as were parts of her face and hair. She glared at the clutch cycling pressure switch, the reason for her current state.

Bella chuckled from where she was lounged on the truck bed. "You're my girlfriend. And you're a mechanic. Isn't there some inherent rule that says you have to take care of my car?"

"I think that only applies to vehicles from, you know, this century," Rosalie replied.

"Tough," Bella retorted and stuck out her tongue. "Besides, we've been through this. You kick my truck, you fix it."

Rosalie glared at her half in annoyance and half in disbelief. Bella, the girl who, were it not for Alice dragging her to a store every once in awhile to get new clothes, would be content with her jeans and few t-shirts, had become absurdly attached to her truck. Rosalie would love nothing more than to pummel that thing to oblivion and get her a real car (one in which the clutch pressure cycle was made after World War II)...but that was very dangerous thinking. When Rosalie made the mistake of kicking the truck in frustration over its speed, Bella wouldn't talk to her for a whole day. If she hadn't immediately promised to fix it the girl might have actually blown up her favorite Mercedes in retaliation.

Rosalie went back to the mess beneath the hood and Bella went back to finishing her homework. A few minutes later, she heard Bella's phone vibrate. Judging by Bella's simultaneous excitement and caution, it was probably Charlie.

"Pizza again tonight," Bella whispered to herself with a smile. She jumped down and put her arms around Rosalie from behind.

"He's being so nice," she said quietly, voicing a constant worry of hers. "I'm afraid of getting used to it."

She took a towel and wiped off some of the grease from Rosalie's forehead as she spoke. Rosalie set her tools down and gently embraced the younger girl. All traces of irritation left her face as she took in the hope and insecurity in Bella's. She wanted to reassure her, but in all honesty her own suspicion and dislike for her father made that impossible.

"Well," she said as she played with a strand of Bella's hair. "All I know for sure is that you have a family right here. We love you no matter what."

She reached down and kissed her. Bella wrapped her arms around her waist and held her close. Her grip was tight, strong.

"What do you see?" She whispered through the kiss and Bella tensed in her embrace.

They paused but Rosalie stayed in place. Bella continued to grip her coveralls tightly and took a few deep breaths. Rosalie waited patiently. They've been through this so many times during the last month...

A few more long seconds and Bella opened her eyes. Bella looked at her lovingly and smiled softly. "I see you...kissing me awhile longer."

Rosalie smiled in relief and granted Bella's request. Bella stepped back so she was leaning on her truck and pulled Rosalie closer, who was only too happy to take a break from the devil machine in front of her. Kissing Bella had become something akin to a religious experience for her...and she took every opportunity to prove her faith. Bella's increasing arousal was pretty obvious for the vampire and she moaned in acquiescence when the girl's hands lowered and found the apex of her legs through her coveralls. One of the most surprising and pleasant outcomes from their trip to the beach with Bella was how much lower her inhibitions regarding Rosalie and Emmett had become. She wasn't yet comfortable going further than where they were now when they were in the Cullens' house...but a month ago Bella would never have permitted herself to get so frisky with Rosalie while the others were home. The sight of Rosalie and Emmett making love on the beach...and everyone's calm acceptance of the fact...was all the permission Bella needed to get past some of her inhibitions. Whatever the case, Rosalie certainly wasn't complaining.

"Not trying to cockblock you, Bells," Emmett shouted through the walls. "But you did promise to play this level with me!"

"Emmett!" Esme scolded.

Bella bit her lower lip and shyly glanced at Rosalie. "I did promise..."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "I'll just keep working on your other girlfriend here."

"Thanks, babe!" Bella grinned and ran out of the garage before Rosalie could throw something at her.

Days often passed as if they were hours for Vampires, and hours passed like minutes for Bella when she worked with Esme on one of her projects. Sketching room layouts did not soothe her as much as playing the piano but it was close. To create something instead of to destroy...it was a nice thing to think about. How many homes were gone because of her? How many cars and tents and trees? There was nothing she could do to bring those things back, let alone the lives that ended, but the symbolism made her feel a little better.

She prayed never to add to her list of debts.

The drawing before her was of a kitchen remodeling. New island, new materials, and a lot more sun. She paused to look more closely at the design she was trying for the backsplash. Red, orange, and yellow swirls wove up and down the wall. It looked almost alive. Strange...she remembered the client's request calling for blue.

Uh-oh.

"What do you see, Bella?" Esme asked from across the table. Bella looked up, making sure not to grimace at the flames covering the closest thing to a mother she had. Esme stared back, not unkindly, and gently raised an eyebrow indicating she understood. Bella closed her eyes and thought of trickling streams, floating on her back in the ocean, and the blue sky that surrounded her from every angle when she left the ground.

I am not a monster.

She felt a hand on hers and looked up. Esme looked at her questioningly and Bella nodded back. Esme's beauty was unmarred once more and the flames had receded...for now.

"You're not a bad person, sweetheart."

Bella nodded again, slowly.

The older woman sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Bella...I've never told you how I died, have I?"

Bella's pencil stopped mid-track on the paper. She looked up and shook her head.

"Well, the 'how' is easy...I committed suicide," she said calmly.

That was...unexpected. Bella turned her head and stared, waiting to hear more. Or did she really want to?

"Most of my life was quite lovely actually," Esme reminisced. "I had a wonderful childhood. A wonderful family. I get on Emmett's case a lot with regard to his mischief but in truth, I was a lot like him as a girl." She smiled. "Worse, if you heard my mother complain."

Bella smiled too. She liked this picture of Esme...running around in a girl's dress with scraped knees, creating harmless havoc wherever she went.

"But then I married, and everything changed." Esme looked down but she couldn't hide the extent of her grief from Bella.

"Charles...right away I knew I was in trouble," she said. "The first time I cooked him a meal and he didn't like it, he smashed his plate...and my head against the wall. Drinking was the common problem for women like me back then, but Charles wasn't a drinker." She paused before continuing. "His cruelty...it was who he was."

Silence spread as she paused again. Bella was grateful that she didn't go into too much detail. She had read enough in her life to get a fairly descriptive picture of what Esme probably endured. And, though the ill-treatment of children from other children pales in comparison to abuse from someone who is supposed to love and protect you, Bella's shield against the world had enough cracks in it for her to understand.

"I ran when I found out I was pregnant," she said. "I had that much sense at least...enough to want to raise the baby in a better environment. It wasn't safe."

Bella clenched her fist so hard around her pencil she nearly pierced her skin with the pointy end. She hastily put it down in fear of drawing blood and watched it and the table in front of her turn to ash in her mind. A memory rushed to the forefront of her mind and she honestly couldn't tell what was worse, it or the flames that were overwhelming the room.

Water, sky, Rosalie...

"But fate was unkind to me," Esme said, sadly. "The boy died two days after his birth. It destroyed me. That child was all I had left and for him to be taken like that...when I had held him only once in my arms before he fell ill...I couldn't..."

Esme looked down. "When I left the hospital I went straight to this park I'd visited a few times. It was a beautiful, gentle place...except for the cliff. They probably have that fenced off now but they didn't back then. I was so scared. And sad. I had given up...and then...I jumped."

When Bella felt it was safe she finally looked up. Esme couldn't cry of course, but if one overlooked the lack of tears one would be hard pressed to confirm that.

"There was no chance of survival. They took me straight to the morgue-it was that bad. Carlisle was there and decided to turn me when he heard my heart still beating."

Bella waited, but Esme's story seemed to be at an end.

"Why," she cleared her throat. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Esme snapped out of her memories and looked at her. "So you'd understand when I tell you that I've seen true evil, Bella. My first husband tortured me. Tortured me...and he loved every minute of it. He took pleasure in my pain...all, all forms of it. He never apologized and he never shed a tear in regret. He never felt remorse or tried to right his wrongs. I've lived more than a 100 years, Bella. There's still much that I don't know but I do know this: You are good. You are strong. You are one of my children. And you will beat this."

The sun was high in the sky yet no warmth reached the earth. Charlie was right about winter in Forks; no matter how much sun managed to get through the semi-permanent cloud bank here, winter here was rough and cold. Ice creeped over everything in town and most people chose to stay indoors despite the weekend. Bella was really hoping she wouldn't run into anyone she knew at Newton's.

The store, newly renovated after last summer's fire, was unfortunately the only place in town to get decent floor mats for her truck. That was why she was here. And the bright sun that filtered down to touch her was why she was alone.

"Well, well, we're honored to have you here," Mike drawled into her ear.

Bella grinded her teeth but didn't react otherwise. She did, however, move so she was in sight of the woman at the cash register. That was Mike's mother, according to her name tag, and her son would not dare say or do anything inappropriate while under her gaze...or so Bella hoped.

She wasn't trying to protect herself...she could handle him. No, she was trying to keep him from doing something stupid and pissing her off. She was trying to protect him.

"I hate to break it to you," he continued. "There's nothing you can do to pretty up that pile of junk of yours. It's a lost cause."

He grinned. She maintained the distance between them and kept trying to dig through the racks until she found the right mats. Bingo. Quickly, she slid to the front and paid for her things, then made to leave. Mike had other ideas though.

Don't burn his balls off, she chanted to herself. Don't do it! Inside the vestibule, Mike grabbed her arm and firmly pushed her against the wall. Bella, for the first time since she walked into the store, looked him in the eye and glared.

"You have three seconds before I let you crawl back inside," she whispered. "One. Two."

"Hey what's going on here?"

They both turned to look at the intruder. A young but built man was standing just inside the doors. He glanced from Mike to Bella, then rested a cold look at Mike.

"Get your hands off of her, buddy," he said, warningly.

Mike glared at the boy. For a few seconds he looked like he was debating whether or not to start something with him but the boy's large muscles appeared to have knocked some sense into him for the first time that day. He finally let go of Bella's arm but she surprised them all when she grabbed his other arm herself.

"Hang on, Mike," Bella said in a fake sweet voice. "Three."

And then she kneed him, hard, in the groin. Mike doubled over in pain, sputtering and cursing at her. Bella narrowed her eyes, stomped down hard on his foot and punched him in the face. All of them heard the bones in his nose break.

"Touch me again," she whispered. "And I'll put you on a stretcher."

Mike hobbled and, true to Bella's promise, crawled back inside.

She turned to leave.

"Holy shit!" The boy exclaimed, looking at her in wonder. "That was awesome! Scary as hell, but holy crap awesome!"

She raised her eyebrows and nodded her goodbye. He followed, still staring at her.

"Hey don't I get a thank you?" He grinned.

Bella gave him a funny look. "I believe I'm the one that bruised his manhood, not you."

"Yeah," he started and Belle grinned inwardly when she noticed him shuffling his feet and shielding his own manhood from her. "But thanks to my presence, there was a witness." He grinned again. "Now his shame is twofold!"

Bella snorted and shook her head. This kid was odd. She gave in and smiled a little, then heaved her purchases into the truck bed.

"Wait a sec," the boy looked at the truck in surprise. "You're Bella?"

She looked at him, surprised. This boy didn't go her school. She had never seen him before.

He smiled brightly, his widest grin yet. "I should've guessed," he chuckled. "I'm Jacob. Jacob Black."

Dun, dun, dun.