Author's Note: Happy New Year! I hope everyone's enjoying the first days of 2009... this may be the last chapter for a while... figuring I have to go back to school and prepare for midterms. (Joy to my heart.) So, I really hope you enjoy the chapter! Thank you for all of the reviews... I practically squeal with joy when ever I realize I have a new one... so please keep it up! You are all amazing. =]

Love,

Mel

15. Questions

School was becoming unbearable, and for once in my life, I'd be looking forward to going home to my dishonest family. At least it meant I was one step closer to Ronan sneaking through my window and staying late hours, and because of that, I was becoming terribly sleep deprived, which made school even more like a living hell. But it was worth it. Ronan was worth it.

Things were becoming easier for him. He began humming me to sleep in his arms, which took some getting used to for him, but soon he was holding me without Des memories interfering to a large extent. He was excited, and of course I was, but I still longed for his lips against mine. It was to the point where I began halting the urge to move my face closer to his; I couldn't stand seeing the pained look in his eye. Having to see him hurting was worse than not being able to kiss him. And I could live with that… to an extent.

Being away from him all day at school was nearly killing me, however. I began spending classes typing up questions that came up while my over-active mind rambled over Ronan for the ride to Seattle when I was supposed to be memorizing the first ten amendments, or doing a worksheet in Pre-Calc.

Lunch was the most agonizing; knowing Ronan was in the same room as me and I couldn't even glance in his direction with out the ever-observant Cindy spotting me. She was also sensing my negative vibes, and would constantly ask me if I was okay. I would just give her a smile and say everything was fine, when in reality, I was itching to get out of school, so I could be safe with Ronan.

That didn't mean the nights weren't blissful. When Ronan would enter my window, put on one of his favorite CDs, and his bright eyes and gleaming smile would be inches from mine in my bed, the agonizing school days, the constant fear of being discovered by the Volturi; every morsel of bad in my life was diminished. Ronan was my sanctuary from reality.

I felt like I had just gone through the ringer after school Friday. I was practically trembling with excitement during U.S History, and sprang out of my seat when the final bell rang after what seemed like an eternity.

I sped-walked past Cindy and Max and half-heartedly waved good-bye, not caring if they wanted to talk to me about the upcoming irrelevant vampire horror we were going to see. Thinking about meeting Ronan in my driveway in merely a few minutes made me forget about any manners I possessed.

When I got to my car, I pulled out of the parking lot as fast as possible, and did everything I could to not slip off of the freezing rain-coated road. I pulled up the driveway, excitement seeping through my skin, and jumped out of the car to shout to my mother that I was going out; not that she'd care.

I skipped up to the house and swung open the door. "Mom!?" I yelled.

To my surprise, I didn't hear her yell back, but instead, she came out of her bedroom slowly. She wasn't dressed up and her hair blonde hair was a mess on her head. When her sad eyes connected with mine, I could see the emptiness in her stare. What was the matter with her?

"Mom, what's wrong? Aren't you and dad going out tonight?" I asked, incredulous.

She shook her head. "No, your father… your father's tired tonight. We're just going to stay home, but the twins are going out."

My eyes became wide then. Something was definitely wrong, and it wasn't because my father was "tired". Every Friday night, they'd been going out, since as long as I could remember, and it never mattered how tired he was. He could come home from Thailand at three in the morning and they'd still go out. I wasn't going to pry, however. My mother would never give; especially if it meant telling the truth. My family repelled honesty.

"Oh… um… okay then." I sputtered. "Well, I'm going to go out tonight, if that's alright with you."

"Who are you going with?" She asked, and I was surprised. She cared?

"Oh, um, just some friends. They're brother and sisters." I said, completely flabbergasted that she actually showed some interest.

She nodded. "Okay. Have fun." She turned away then, her dead eyes facing her bedroom once again.

Even though I was still writhing with excitement, part of me was telling me to stay home with my mom and try to get her to talk about what was wrong. But who was I kidding? She wouldn't tell me the truth if her life depended on it. When Ronan pulled up in the driveway, any thoughts of my mother's angst was diminished. I ran for the car.

When I got to the passenger seat, Renesmee emerged and held the door open for me, smiling. "Hey, Ava." She greeted me, smiling. Alice sprang out of the door behind him, followed by Bella.

"Do you mind if we take my… I mean your Porsche? It drives great!" Alice asked, beaming.

"Sure!" I said, digging the keys out of my pocket and throwing them to her. She caught them in the air with ease.

"Thanks, Ava! We'll follow right behind you guys." She gave me a quick hug, and loped over to the open garage with Bella and Renesmee.

I smiled, and got into the passenger seat. My breath was taken away when I saw Ronan's eyes on mine, his hand reached toward me. I fastened my seat belt and took his hand, settling into the seat, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. I was finally with Ronan.

He smiled at me, his gold eyes melting me immediately, and he didn't take his eyes off mine as he pulled out of the long driveway. When we were on the road and on our way to Seattle, he took a deep breath. "So, I'm ready."

"Oh!" I remembered, taking my hand out of his momentarily to get my laptop out to read off my questions for him. I opened the document I'd been distracted with all week in my painfully slow classes.

He raised an eyebrow. "You typed up a word document?"

"You told me to come with questions prepared." I told him.

He swallowed hard. He looked nervous. "Okay. Start with number one."

I glanced at the first question listed and smirked. "What's your favorite color?"

He looked over at me, disbelieving. "Are you serious?"

"Completely. Just answer it." I told him.

He nodded, then looked me in the eyes. "Blue. The exact blue of your eyes."

I shook my head and smiled, trying to suppress the blush creeping into my cheeks. He was smirking, trying to hold back a laugh.

I smirked and squinted my eyes. "You just wanted to see me blush, didn't you." I accused him.

He shrugged, looking at me sincerely. "Kind of." He admitted. "But I wasn't kidding. You're eyes are my favorite color."

I smiled. "Okay, next question. It's not as easy as the last. When was each of your family members born?"

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Carlisle was born in London in the sixteen-fifties."

"Shut up." I demanded, shaking my head.

"I'm only answering your question, Avs." He told me, amused by my unusual reaction.

"Okay, um, that's… surreal. Esme?" I asked.

"1895." He replied. "Carlisle changed her in 1921 after a suicide attempt, and they've been in love since." Ronan smiled at their memories.

"She tried to kill herself?" I asked.

He nodded. "She lost a child, and she had been beaten by her husband. She felt no need to live any longer." His expression was grim.

"Oh." I managed. "Wow." I squeezed his hand.

"Who was next?" I asked after a moment.

"Actually, Edward was the first to be changed by Carlisle. After years and years of him just wandering by himself, he decided he wanted a companion. He found Edward dying of the Spanish Influenza in Chicago, so he changed him. He was born in 1901, and was changed when he was seventeen. I envy him for that. I've been babied since I've entered the family. Being both the youngest in human years and in vampire years really takes a toll, you know? They still celebrate my birthday." He chuckled.

I smiled. "It's because they love you, and know you've been through a tough time these past years. I wish I had something like that. My parents are usually on vacation when my birthday rolls around."

"Yeah," He said, of course he already knew this, "I never thought September twenty-seventh was a big vacation time."

I shook my head. "My thoughts exactly. Who was next?"

He looked forward. "Well, Esme was changed after Edward, and then shortly after her was Rosalie in 1933. She was born in 1915 in Rochester. Carlisle found her half-dead in the snow, beaten by her fiancé."

I shook my head. "Wow. That's… that's horrible."

He flinched. "Her memories are hard to watch." His hand became tight on the wheel, and his teeth clenched together. "Man, if that Royce guy was still alive, I'd kill him…"

I smiled. No matter how much he claimed he didn't care about Rosalie, he really did. "Anything for your family."

He shrugged, knowing his cover was blown for Rosalie. "I'm still mad at her. She has no reason to act that way towards you."

I squeezed his hand. "Ronan, it's okay. Who was next?"

He smiled. "Emmett was next. Rosalie found him wrestling a grizzly bear, and his half-dead body back to Carlisle to be changed, she didn't think she had the restrain to change him herself, she was afraid the blood would cause her to drain him. He was born the same year as Rose, 1915, but was changed two years after her. Emmett's awesome. I'm the little brother he picks on constantly, but it's worth it. He's the older brother I've never had, you know?"

I smiled. "I would love to meet him sometime." I told him.

"You might be meeting him tonight. I might call the guys to come down… Alice is making this shopping spree sound like it's going to end up extravagant and long."

I shook my head and laughed. "I've only known Alice for a week, and I already know for a fact it's going to be extravagant and long."

He laughed. "That's Alice for you. She's so excited to take someone that actually enjoys shopping on one of her sprees."

I smiled. "I'm excited, too. When was she born?"

He closed his eyes, thinking again. "She was born in 1901, but she wasn't changed by Carlisle. She was changed sometime in the 1920s. She found Carlisle, Esme, Emmett and Edward later with Jasper."

"What about Jasper?" I asked.

"He was born in 1843. He served as a major in the Confederate Army during the Civil War and was changed in 1863 during his service. His upbringing as a vampire was much different than the rest of the Cullens, as were his dietary habits as you can imagine." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Jasper's history is very complex. He was apart of a vampire army down South that fought for feeding zones basically, so he inevitably fed off of humans. He was, however, surrounded by terrifying, depressing, and excruciatingly powerful emotions, which made him depressed for the years he was with the vampires that changed him…"

"How could he know the emotions of others around him?" I interrupted.

"Well, Jasper's another one in the family with a special attribute. He can manipulate emotions around him, but he can also feel other's emotions. I think he and I relate really well in that way; our powers can sometimes be more of a form of torture than pleasure."

I nodded. "So, how did he and Alice come across the rest of the Cullens?"

"Well he and Alice found each other one day in a diner, they were so attuned to each other with their talents; Alice saw him and the Cullens coming, and Jasper finally felt hope seeping from Alice after all his years of agony as his main emotion.

"So, they found the Cullens, who were a little freaked about Alice knowing everything about them…"

"Sounds familiar." I said, smiling. He smiled back at me and rubbed the back of my hand with his fingers.

"They were immediately accepted into the family, however, and soon after moved to Forks to start a new life in your house." He shook his head. "You thought their lives were complicated before? It got even more twisted when Bella came into the picture."

I was immediately interested. "Tell me more."

"Bella was born in 1987, and she met Edward and fell in love with him, as a human. She was changed by Edward after they were married and Renesmee almost killed her while she was pregnant with her. Jacob was still with the pack at that point, he didn't join the family officially until they were forced to flee. Jake was born in 1990, and has been a werewolf for a long while now. He and Renesmee were married not to long ago… they really never leave each other's sides. He'll probably end up crashing your shopping spree later on." He smiled.

I laughed. "Alice will probably start browsing for him, too."

He nodded. "Oh, she will. I'm sure she's going to be calling me to come to try something on while I'm wandering aimlessly through the city." He shook his head. "Next question?"

I looked down at my laptop at the next question, and wanted to smack myself in the head. I forgot I wrote this one down. Crap, I thought I deleted it…

I quickly highlighted the text and deleted it, hoping Ronan wouldn't notice, but of course he did. "What was that one that you just deleted?"

I shook my head too fast. "It… it was nothing don't worry about it…"

He locked eyes with me then, and I closed them tightly. "Get out of my head!"

He suddenly threw his head back laughing; I thought we were going to crash into the semi in front of us.

"Ronan! Watch the road!" I shouted at him.

He was still laughing loudly, but swerved out of the way of the massive truck that was now honking its horn at us angrily.

"Shut up. I was just curious and I couldn't stop thinking about it in English. It's a relevant question, considering how you say that the smell of human blood even just pulsing inside the body is intoxicating." I told him, embarrassed, while he continued laughing hysterically.

After about thirty more seconds of this, he began to calm down. "Are you finished?" I asked, rolling my eyes. My face was beat red.

"Yeah… I think so." He chuckled. His nose wrinkled. "I never thought of that; that is just a repulsive idea…"

"Ugh." I put my face in my hands. "Please don't answer that."

"Well just so you're not paranoid next month when Mother Nature calls to you again…" There was a sadistic smile on his face.

"Ronan!" I shouted as I hid in my hands.

He laughed loudly again. "The answer is no. We are not sensitive to that."

I let out a long sigh and took my face out of my hands. I could just crawl into a hole. "Kay. Thanks." I mumbled.

He let out a long sigh and took my hand again. "Any more questions?"

I scrolled down the document, and when I read the question, I hesitated. This one would probably bring up painful memories. He noticed my hesitation, and craned his neck to look at the document. I slapped my hand over it, even though that wouldn't do any good when he looked at my memory of the screen. He became ridged.

"Ronan, you don't have to answer that. I was just brainstorming and I was curious…"

"No." He shook his head. "I told you I'd answer your questions. And the answer is yes. I have murdered a person."

I nodded, taking in the fact that this sweet creature could take away a human life. "Okay." I said calmly.

He shook his head, laughing wryly. "I cannot believe how calm you can make yourself seem. You should win an Academy Award." There was sadness in his eyes then. "I was not proud of my actions, but it was the pain of Des…" He closed his eyes tightly, chanting my name to himself again. "It was right after… everything happened. And, as you can imagine, I was broken. It was like the Volturi came and ripped me into pieces. I forgot who I was. Life without her; it absolutely unbearable in the beginning. I loathed myself. Memories every second would assault me, putting me in this blind rage. I left my family at one point; just looking at them reminded me of Des, and I, I just couldn't take it." He paused then, recollecting himself.

"We had left Fort Lauderdale by that point, and we were back in a small suburb near London. One day, on one of my blind rampages, I stormed out of the house into the city. I had to get away from the memories, they were eating me alive.

"This was before the ultra-fast Magno-trains were invented, and I was riding on the slower subway into the city, and people could sense my rage at the world. I actually gave a death glare to the little old lady that smiled at me to give up my seat to her frail legs…" He grimaced. "I even scared myself when I went on my rampages." He whispered. I used both of my hands to hold his.

He took in a deep, shaky breath, and resumed his story. "I went into the city, and began to watch other people's memories to try to take my mind off of mine. I was actually feeling okay after I watched this one little curly-blonde girl's when I walked into a small school playground. But when I turned around, I found myself watching another sequence of memories; one from a man who was talking on his cell phone, carrying a briefcase and wearing an expensive suit. His memories set me off on the worst rampage yet…" He closed his eyes tightly, trying to even his breathing. "Before he set off for his destination, he was at home with his pregnant wife. She was out with some friends all day, and he had just walked through the door after an afternoon at the bar with his friends after work that ended at four. He was drunk, and miffed at his wife for not having dinner on the table. So, when she came through the door they got into a fight. Soon, he was beating her to the ground…" He groaned. "She was half-dead when he left her, and I lost it. I followed him into an alley where he was going to buy some substance to ease the pain of what he did to his wife, and I killed him." He was chanting my name again inaudibly.

I shook my head. "Ronan, I'm so sorry. He did a bad thing, though. He deserved to die."

He shook his head fast. "No, Ava. I am just as much of a monster as he is. I killed the man! You should've seen his face when I lunged for him. From fury when he was beating his defenseless wife, to raw fear when I threw him to the ground…" He was breathing unsteadily again.

"It's okay." I whispered. "I completely understand, Ronan. I love you. You were hurting. That man was a monster. You are far from being a monster. That woman would never have to be beaten ever again, all because of you."

He shook his head. "She lost the baby."

Tears automatically sprang into my eyes. "That's not your fault." I whispered. "You killed that son of a…" I shook my head. "She wouldn't be hurt by him again, Ronan."

He nodded, self loathing. I couldn't take him looking at the highway like that. I hit the auto-pilot with my fist and turned Ronan's face towards mine with my hands. "Don't do this, Ronan. You are not a monster. You're actually like my own personal heaven on earth." I gave him a weak smile.

He looked into my eyes intensely. "You are my heaven." He told me, wiping the tears out of my eyes. I smiled. His words never failed to melt me.

He took the car off of auto pilot, and began speeding down the highway once again. "Anything else?"

I glanced at my laptop. "I have a few questions about my room. First, who inhabited it before me?"

"It was Edward's room. Pretty much everything in there belonged to him, except for that huge TV your parents had installed. The CDs, the old stereo system, even the bed he bought for Bella while she was human."

I nodded. Once Ronan told me that Edward was music obsessed, I kind of had a hunch my room was his. "Cool. Okay, question two…" I scrolled down, "Why did he leave all of that stuff in the floorboards of his closet?"

Ronan took a deep breath, closing his eyes, concentrating on a memory. "Well, Alice had a vision of Mike snooping around the house while they were gone. They weren't expecting to be gone too long in the first place, they thought they'd just keep the house and return in a few months to claim their belongings when everything with Mike settled down. So, they put any valuables that they couldn't take in their frantic flee in the floorboards, and locked up the door.

"But when he made that website and Alice had an extremely vague vision of the Volturi, they decided to keep the house in their name, but never return. So years and years passed, and the government finally claimed the house when they couldn't reach the Cullens on the subject, and sold it to a realtor. No one would buy the house, however, because of the rumor that got out saying the house made Mike Newton go mad." He took a deep breath and smirked.

"That is until your mother found the house a hundred years later, and I found you." He looked at me then. "Alice saw you for the first time then, in Edward's room looking at all of the CDs. It was a vision that completely caught her off guard; and believe me, nothing catches Alice off guard. She told the family, and they were all very bothered by this, so Jasper and Emmett began making fevered bids for the house against your mother, each one anonymous."

I nodded and smiled, remembering my mother's predicament with the unknown bidder. "The Anonymous bidder. My mother absolutely despised your brothers."

He laughed. "They hated your mother just as much. They both can't stand losing." He shook his head. "So they sent me to Honolulu to make sure your memories weren't threatening, and everything seemed fine, especially you…" He shook his head. "They absolutely loathed the idea, but I opened the closet for you. I wanted you to know about us. I knew I could trust you."

I smiled at him, longing for his lips again. I took a deep breath, and unwillingly turned my head away to see the Seattle skyline creeping up on us. It was breathtaking.

He held my hand tighter. "Welcome to Seattle, Avs."