Disclaimer: I do not, nor will ever, own the Twilight Saga, or any of its characters and plots.


TW: This story will contain references to child abuse (physical, mental, sexual), self-harm, and suicide attempts (both past and present).

There will also be themes of rape and dubious consent (dubcon), as well as consensual sexual scenes between teenagers. If this bothers you, I recommend not reading further.


Izzy

Oddly enough, she felt no aches nor pains when she woke up.

She was lying in Edward's and Jasper's room – the wall of medals being enough of a clue – but the bed was empty.

She sighed, getting up. After doing her morning routine as best she could without an extra set of clothes, she walked downstairs.

The Cullens were all gathered in the living room, and every single one of them went silent and looked up at her when she paused at the bottom of the stairs. She'd never been one for big, dramatic speeches, though she had had her moments over the years; still, she thought she should say something.

"I'm Izzy," She began, staring intently at the wall of graduation caps behind Emmett's head. "I suppose I should thank you for rescuing us, both from those boys, and from – from – "

She broke off, shaking her head.

"Um, you've been quite helpful for us, and we do appreciate that, even though we sometimes don't show it…"

She trailed off. Her face felt like it was on fire.

"And, uh, thanks for not letting us die metaphorically or physically, for that matter."

She was going to continue to ramble until one of them said something, slowly digging her own hole to jump in and hide from the world. She hoped one of them would have the decency to push the dirt on top of her.

"I told you months ago, Izzy, that you are all part of this family." Esme spoke up, saving her from completely humiliating herself. "That will never change."

"Even if I don't want to become a vampire, or Jasper and Edward give up on me, or – ?"

"Even then." Carlisle interrupted, a smile forming on his face. "But I highly doubt you could live long enough, immortal or not, for Edward and Jasper to give up on you."

"I have a one-track mind." Edward cut in, and Izzy laughed softly, looking down.

"How are you doing?" Esme asked, her voice gentle.

Izzy continued staring at the ground, refusing to look up.

"I can't hardly remember what happened, just little snippets that Ash told us, but the thought of him – "

She broke off, blinking back tears. When did she become so weak?

"Ash, Onyx, and Dolan took the worst of it. They've sequestered themselves off from the rest of us after the burning. I-I wouldn't be surprised if one of them split because of this."

Despite her low volume, she knew they could hear her perfectly.

"Isla is still adjusting to being a multiple, and she's taken on the responsibility of distracting Sylas, so he doesn't try to Front. She will probably show up again soon. And Eden is… blaming herself, I think. She doesn't talk to me anymore, though, after a recent incident." She summarized.

She'd been staring at the tiles for so long, she practically had them memorized.

"Please, if you can, give them our love." Esme said softly, unshed tears in her eyes when Izzy finally looked up at her.

She nodded in agreement, looking away.

"As nice as this has been, truly, I would like to go home." She whispered, her voice cracking again.

She really just wanted to lie in her bed and cry for a few hours, preferably with Jasper's arms around her. Or Edward's arms. They both made her feel so safe.

"We'll take you home." Edward said, glancing at Jasper, who nodded.

Izzy murmured her goodbyes to the others before she followed them out to Jasper's truck.

The drive to her house was silent, broken only by the sound of the engine and the soft music playing in the background. She had been doing so well until she reached the porch, her hand trembling as she reached for the spare key.

She dropped it twice before Jasper took it from her hand, unlocking the door for her. That small action, one that normally would have no significance, caused the first flood of tears to trickle down her face, blurring her vision.

"I-I can't…" She whispered, and Edward understood immediately, lifting her in his arms and racing upstairs in vampire speed.

She'd barely taken another breath when her back touched her mattress. She lifted her hand to Jasper when he appeared a second later, and soon, she was surrounded by the two men she knew she could trust with her life.

Edward didn't seem to care as she cried herself out on his shirt, Jasper's arms wrapped tightly around her from behind. He whispered comforting words in her ear whilst allowing non-intrusive positive emotions to wash over her.

She still felt the sorrow, the pain, and hurt, and the guilt, but she also felt his love for her. Edward's fingers were laced through hers, while his other hand ran soothingly through her hair.

She fell into a deep sleep when her tears were all dried up, relaxing into them.


Eden

For the past three days, she had been in this bed, only leaving to eat quickly or use the bathroom. Jasper and Edward had been patient with her, always ready to allow her back into their arms. They said nothing when Izzy had switched to her, and then back again.

Over and over, the two of them seemed to be determined to allow their body to waste away whilst the cruel, cold world spun on without them.

Today, the fourth day since her bedrest, however, was different. After eating and using the bathroom, she paused on the way back to bed.

"That's it." She muttered, turning on her heel and storming out of the room, not looking back at the surprised vampires.

They followed her anyways.

She approached the room they hadn't been in in years, breaking the lock that her damned parents had put on it, and slamming open the door.

Artwork from years ago met her eyes, back when her parents were still trying to buy her love (and silence). Some were childish, obviously Sylas' work, whilst some were more intense, most likely Onyx's.

"You used to paint." Edward stated, looking around.

She shrugged.

"One of Ash's coping methods before our parents locked it away. I guess they never bothered to clean this room out – probably as some psychological torture that failed when the others lost interest." She admitted, and walked to the large stack of sketchbooks, taking one of the two empty ones.

She grabbed a few pencils and sat right there, on the ground.

"Any objections?" She asked the room as Edward and Jasper sat in front of her, trading a look with each other.

When she received no reply, not even from Izzy, she smiled.

"Our story begins in the fall of 1993." She began, quickly sketching out a scene.

A younger version of Ilyssa Collins sat in the garden outside the very house they sat in now, looking up at the sky. From the forest surrounding the back part of the house stepped an extremely attractive man with glowing red eyes. His eyes were the only color on the page.

"A thirteen-year-old girl known as Ilyssa Collins sat alone in her garden. Her parents were off doing rich-parent things, leaving her alone the same time every day. And every day, no matter the weather, Ilyssa sat in the garden, in the same spot, staring up at the sky."

Eden turned the sketch towards Edward and Jasper, running her fingers over the man.

"On that particular day, someone noticed. With eyes as red as blood, skin as cold as ice, and a dastardly smile, the man introduced himself.

'They call me Damien,' He told the young girl, who had taken only look at the man and found herself strangely drawn to him.

'They call me Ilyssa,' She replied, 'But I go by many names.'

'As do I, young Ilyssa.'"

Eden turned the page, beginning the next sketch – this one with the girl in her bedroom, a copy of the one upstairs, and the man standing over her. When she revealed it to the vampires, they tensed.

"Ilyssa was intrigued by Damien, and he in turn was curious about her. He had noticed the way her parents doted on her, and Ilyssa had revealed her best kept secret – what her father did to her every Tuesday before the sun rose.

'Some might call that child abuse,' Damien said, looking down at her.

Ilyssa had heard of such things in passing, but she had never considered that she was an abuse victim.

'And what would you call it?' She asked him, to which he responded with a smile and, 'I'd call it an invitation.'"

Jasper hissed lowly, and Edward clenched his fists, but Eden knew she had to continue, turning the page, and beginning another sketch, this one unlike anything she'd ever drawn before.

The girl's head was thrown back in pleasure, whilst the man crouched over her. Blankets covered what they were doing, but it didn't take much to know.

"Alas, Ilyssa was taken advantage of, but Damien was a selfish man. He didn't want to share her with anyone, much less her father, and so he coerced him into leaving Ilyssa alone. Ilyssa was foolish. She believed Damien loved her; after all, he stopped the abuse from her father, and he was always so gentle, so kind. When Damien explained what he was, why he needed her blood, Ilyssa gave herself willingly."

Eden lifted her fingers to her neck, where the faint scars from Damien's recent bites still remained. They would fade over time, like the first did, but she knew the one on her shoulder, which had been injected with venom, would never disappear.

He had marked her permanently.

She turned the page, sketching out the final drawing that she would do that night. The girl stood in the middle of the forest, a few years older, and the man stood in front of her, glaring down at her.

"But things couldn't last forever. Damien had his excuses – boredom, being the most prominent – and chose to leave fifteen-year-old Ilyssa behind, making her swear to never speak of him until he returned for her. She agreed, of course; after all, she thought he genuinely loved her. And he did return, didn't he? It wasn't his fault that she'd moved on." Eden finished, her voice quiet.

She lowered the sketchbook to the ground, staring at the pencil shavings around her.

"Onyx loved him the most, I think. Ash and Izzy were a close second, which is why Ash was so easily fooled by his manipulation, and Izzy still cannot even think his name."

"And what about you?" Jasper asked.

She kept her eyes lowered, not knowing if she could tell them the truth if she was looking at them.

"He was my everything." She murmured. "I like to think that his gift made us fall so far for him, but… but sometimes, I think I would go back to him, if it wasn't for him using us for sex and blood." She added, scoffing.

There was a moment of silence, and then she lifted her eyes to Jasper's.

"You remind me of him. That's what drew me to you in the first place. You have the same hardness in your eyes as he does." She admitted.

He opened his mouth but paused when she lifted her hand.

"Now, I see that you are nothing like him. You have the gift to manipulate us into loving you, but you don't. Even with all of your flaws, you are infinitely better than he is because of that."

She lowered her hand, reaching for Edward's. He laced their fingers together. She smiled as Jasper leaned forward, capturing her lips. With her free hand, she tangled her fingers through his hair, and he bit her lips gently for her efforts.

She gasped in surprise, allowing him access to her mouth. There was no battle as their tongues met, just a sweet dance that caused her head to spin. She moved forward, straddling his lap with her knees on either side of his thighs as she pressed herself closer to him.

Edward moved behind her, his lips sucking and nipping along her neck and her shoulders, carefully avoiding the still sore venom bite. She trailed her fingertips gently down Jasper's neck, tracing the thin scars there, hesitating at his collar.

He broke their kiss to pull his shirt over his head, revealing his scarred, pale body. His eyes watched her cautiously, but she just smiled, leaning down to kiss a particularly nasty scar above his left bicep.

"Your scars are beautiful. They show how strong you are." She murmured.

His fingers curled under her chin, lifting her mouth back to his. Her eyes fluttered closed automatically. As he deepened the kiss, as Edward kissed a particularly sensitive spot between her neck and collar, she felt warmth pooling in her lower abdomen, a moan slipping out into Jasper's mouth.

She felt both of them smile against her, one on her lips and one on her neck.

"We'll only go as far as you're comfortable with." Edward reminded her as he moved up her neck, toying with her earlobe.

When he bit her earlobe gently, she felt her thighs instinctively clench around Jasper's. She knew Jasper was just as turned on as she was, if the hardness under her was any indication.

"I-I want you."

Her voice trembled with desire as Jasper nibbled along her jawline.

"We'll take this slow." He murmured, his fingers tugging at the hem of her shirt.