disclaimer: I do not own the vampire diaries or twilight

Mystic Falls

-The Mystic Grille-

Bella had taken to blowing bubbles in her milkshake. It had been three days since Declan had left in search of Qetsiyah, leaving his mate in the company of her family and, to a lesser extent, Edward. The two had been within each other's company for two days now, since their charges, Stefan, and Caroline, often walked within the same circle.

Right now, Edward was getting up close and personal with the youngest Salvatore. The two were playing a game of pool, chatting away as if they were old friends. Edward had taken Bella by surprise when he dropped the tormented soul routine and decided to actually act like a modern teenager. She had almost swallowed her tongue when he called Stefan dude and even offered him a fist bump.

Emmett had told her it was his coaching. The mind reader had come to him with advice on how to be social, and Jasper was of little help in that department. Out of all the Cullen brothers, it was Emmett who had the most social appearance. He actually liked talking to humans when he could. They had all chalked it up to his smile and burly looks.

Bella found the whole exchange between the two vampires perplexing. Bonnie had told her that Stefan wasn't the most social butterfly and Bella was so used to Edward looking constipated from the guilt of leaving her that she didn't think he could default into relaxed. She had to tip her hat to him because he had proved her wrong.

Point to Cullen.

She released her straw, letting her eyes move towards the door. Caroline Forbes waltzed into the door, followed by Bonnie and Elena. Bonnie caught sight of her as they walked towards the booths and gave her a wave. Bella returned it, noticing how the other two reacted to her presence.

It wasn't hard to tell she was a Mikaelson. She and Kol had very similar mannerisms, including the smile and little wave Bella was giving Bonnie. Her brothers were off trying to find ways to defend against the threat of Silas.

She hadn't seen Mike since he locked himself in his guestroom at the mansion. Of course she had been catching up with her sister and brothers at the time. Now Klaus and Rebekah were off looking for witches who knew more about Silas, Elijah was handling something that had come up in New Orleans of all places and Kol was getting ready for some date he had planned with Bonnie later that night. One she had no idea about.

Although if she had to guess, it was something that would ease the witch into accepting the protection runes and charms he had commissioned for her.

"Do you know her, Bon?" she heard Elena ask. She was gazing at Bella like she was the enemy, and like she could take her in a fight.

Oh she could try. Bella was not in the mood to taunt Katerina's double. Mike was cutting into her alone time with Declan, and they hadn't even gotten a chance to do anything aside from cuddle and kiss before he left. He was texting her of course, but his last message had come in hours ago.

He had better hurry up and find Tessa. Or Bella was going to abandon her charge, find the witch and pull her back to Mystic Falls by her hair. She could kick, scream, and hex her all she wanted. Bella was a pissed off, horny, Original vampire. She'd handle it.

"She's a friend of my cousin's," Bonnie answered, going with the cover story they had come up with. Mike and Bonnie looked the same age, which was true. Mike may be over four thousand years old, but he was baby faced and physically an eighteen-year-old boy. The cons of immortality, and Bella would know. If it wasn't for compulsion, she would have killed a lot of people in her quests for alcohol once it was given an age restriction.

"I didn't know your cousin was friends with Mikaelsons," Caroline bit out. Bella sent the blonde a wink, letting her know she could hear her. Scoffing, the blonde stormed off in search of a booth for the trio to sit at.

"She isn't bad, Care," Bonnie assured her.

Elena kept her eyes on Bella before letting them move towards Stefan and Edward. The two were restarting their game of pool. After a few moments, she followed after the other two and joined them at the booth Caroline had proclaimed.

Bella watched them and then went back to her milkshake. She had just puffed up her cheeks to start blowing more bubbles when her phone rang. She frowned and glanced down at the caller I.D.

Charlie was calling her.

Shit, she cursed. She had forgotten to compel him. Technically, because the school year wasn't over, she was supposed to be in school. It was just barely late April. She had left enough food and had Alice make it seem like she was still living there.

The school knew she was on a 'leave of absence' because Renee had been sick. That part wasn't a lie. The woman was clumsier than Bella pretended to be. She was nursing a broken ankle and Phil was off traveling alone. Bella was supposed to be around to keep her company.

But Charlie hadn't been informed of any of that. Someone must have brought her up in conversation.

She pressed the answer button and brought the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Bella, what's this I hear about you going off to see Renee? Why didn't you tell me she was hurt?"

She winced at the hurt in Charlie's voice. She cleared her throat, getting into character. "Sorry about that Charlie, it was last minute. I shouldn't have up and left like that. Again," she added that last bit with genuine remorse.

Charlie was a sweet man, a little lonely, but a sweetheart. He didn't deserve the heartache she was giving him. He had been a better father to her than her own had been. She couldn't even remember any semblance of good in Mikael, but Charlie had loved her like she was his actual daughter.

The one who had died on her way to Forks Washington. That was a dark memory, one she hadn't like to dwell on. The girl had been young and didn't deserve the way she died.

Charlie's sigh pulled her from that memory. "You know you're grounded when you get back, right?"

She wouldn't be coming back, she thought. But she answered anyway, "Yeah, I know. Anything happen while I've been away?"

"The Newton boy disappeared," Charlie murmured. "He's the first one from Forks to go missing, but he isn't the last one."

Bella perked up at that. "What do you mean by that?"

"There have been missing person reports happening, not to mention all these wild animal attacks," Charlie grumbled into the phone.

That wasn't good, Bella mused. She'd probably have to sneak back to Washington and investigate that. She'd drag Caroline along with her if she had to.

"You should be careful, Charlie."

"I will be," he said and then chuckled. "I should be telling you that. How's your mom?"

"Resting," Bella lied.

"I see," he muttered. "Well, I had better get back to work. I just wanted to call to see how you are,"

"And ground me," she reminded him.

He chuckled into the phone. It was rich and brought a smile to her face. He had a nice laugh, she noted. He should definitely laugh more.

"I'll see you soon," she told him.

"Sure thing, Bells," he said fondly. She was about to hang up when he spoke again as if remembering something. "Oh yeah, Bells you got a visit from an old friend of yours."

Bella paused. "An old friend?"

"Yeah, said her name was Victoria, she came by the house earlier with her boyfriend. She wanted to let you know she was in town for a memorial. She was hoping to see you. Any who, I had better go. I'll call you later, Bella."

He hung up the phone with a quick I love you, ending it all. Bella stared at her milkshake, her mind racing. With everything that had happened, from Kol coming back to them heading to Mystic Falls so impromptu and without Alice, Carlisle, Rosalie, or Esme because they still needed to keep up some appearances, she had forgotten about Victoria.

She hadn't thought about the redhead since James's death. She cursed under her breath and arose from the booth. Edward was beside her as they stepped out the grill, Bella already calling Mike.

"Hello?" came the warlock's voice.

"I need to go back to Forks," Bella groaned, pinching her nose, shooting Edward a glare. "We have a vampire problem, probably newborns."

"Newborns?" Mike parroted.

"Yes," she hissed, trying to keep her cool.

"How long will you be?"

Bella glanced at Edward, who was in the middle of calling up Alice. "Probably two days. I can drug blondie and the Ripper and bring them with us,"

"Bella,"

"Or just compel them. I keep forgetting I am able to do that," Bella said, more to herself. She waved her hand, as if to swipe the thought away. "I can be quick."

"Silas is out there, Isabella."

"Silas can wait two damn days, Mikhail. I don't feel like dealing with the Volturi twice in almost two months."

"Can't the Cullens handle it on their own?" Mike sounded annoyed.

"Jasper is the most versed in dealing with newborns, dear Mikhail. Also, Victoria has staked claim on me, which means she is going to go after everything I hold dear. And since she'd paid Charlie a visit, that means he'll be the first body that drops, and we need to avoid that."

Killing the chief of a small town usually made a big splash in the headlines. Not to mention the treaty was in place and if any human died in Forks, there was going to be a war between the Cold Ones and the shifters. Bella was not in the mood for that headache in addition to the Volturi breathing down her neck.

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Mike questioned.

"Nope," Bella answered.

"Fine," he grumbled. "Do what you must but be back within those two days. After that, let the Cullens handle it,"

"Alright," she said and hung up. She turned to Edward, and they shared a groan.

"I take full responsibility for this," he told her.

"We'll deal with that later, we need to pack."

I honestly can't remember how long it has been since I've actually updated this. But I'm back and plan on finishing this fic. So thank you to all who stayed, all who have come and checked this out, and all who will be peeping this fanfiction in the future.

Let's see this through til the end.

atiredgentlewoman