A/N: So, I just want to say, thank you to everyone who is reading and reviewing! I understand that some of you were upset about Bella's reaction to Edward's admission. Just remember, she is still a little immature. For better or worse, she is still a teenage – as is he. He just has a few years of BEING the teenager, where she hasn't. Regardless, hopefully this chapter is better for you guys. Carry on.

Chapter 16: The Fight

Edward

I watched Bella run out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Immediately I felt guilty and stupid for what I had said. Those were sentiments I should have shared with her before we'd made love. Before giving myself to her completely. I knew that it was a response to the situation we were in. Mother had been insistent that we not leave the cabin, that the danger this coven presented was high. I knew Bella was upset about Charlie, and the fight we'd had earlier. I felt like I took advantage of her.

The ringing of my cell phone brought me back to reality. I shifted out of the bed, grabbing my pants off the floor, fishing through the pocket to grab it. I saw it was Alice.

"Don't be an idiot," she said, when I answered. "She wanted this too. If you do what you are thinking all you will do is make her angrier."

I sighed, slipping my underwear on and then my pants. I sat down on the bed, ignoring my shirt for now. "I made her feel guilty about this. I have to say or do something."

"Asking her to marry you as a result of guilt is stupid, Edward. You are going to scare her, make her feel like what just happened wasn't wonderful for you. That you are so guilt ridden you feel like you have to marry her as a result. All this does is make the fight last longer."

I heard my Mother in the background. "Edward, be smart about this, dear. Don't make her life any harder than it already is...already will be."

My ears perked up. "What do you mean, 'will be?' What else have you seen?"

Alice sighed, and Mother was quiet again. "This coven that's nearing you guys. If you go outside, I see them killing Bella."

"But Jasper, Rose and Emmett are on their way, right? They are going to take care of the coven?"

"Only in part. I see them only killing the leader. The others are different and will pose a threat to Bella in the future. Well, one of them anyway. One will actually help us, if Liz is right."

"Wait, how does Mother know? Doesn't she need to be close to them to see..." I pressed the phone tighter to my ear. "They were in Forks, weren't they?"

"Yes, Edward. They arrive shortly after you two left. They are following her scent to where you are."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner, Alice?" I said through my teeth. "Bella is at risk. I could have driven faster to get her here."

"They are taking their time; winding around Canada making their way up there. It wouldn't have mattered; the timeline is the same."

I shook my head; I needed to focus on Bella right now. The coven issue would be fine as long as I kept her inside. "What do I do? Not about this coven, because we can deal with that later when everyone gets here. What do I do now about Bella? I've made a mess of everything."

Alice handed the phone to Mother then. "This is the choice we talked about, dear, before you left. You made a choice to be with her; now it's up to her. You are not allowed to make decisions that affect her body. When it comes to the conversation of her changing, that's inevitable at this point. Alice and I both see it as if it was clear as day, so there's no way to get around it. What you must understand is that it's her life. She has control over her own body. It's not right for you to choose her path for her.

"As for now, this is on you. You both made the choice to be together; your words hurt her, I'm sure of it. You must fix it by telling her the truth. The reality is that you should have discussed this with her before you were intimate. But remember: you both have a say in what happens. It's not only on you, or only on her. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

I sighed again, thinking that I was an absolute idiot for what I had done. "If we mutually made the decision to be together, then we both have to deal with whatever aftermath comes. Yes, I understand. But, Mother, I don't want her to have this life. What if she resents me?"

"It's her choice, dear. Not yours. You have to trust that your mate is strong enough, and smart enough, to understand the consequences of this life. That she loves you enough to keep loving you even after."

I bowed my head in defeat. She was right, and I knew it. I screwed up royally. I could only hope that she would forgive me.

Bella

I paced around the living room. I was supposed to be happy right now; thrilled, even. But Edward's comment had really pissed me off. It was like he was trying to make me feel guilty for stealing his virtue or something. If I hadn't been so mad, I may have laughed at how crazy that sounded.

I was still pacing when I saw that Edward had joined me, leaning against the wall fully dressed. I didn't know what to say, so I just stood there staring at him, letting him make the first move.

"Bella," he began, pushing his hand through his hair, not moving from the entrance to the living room. "I want to beg your forgiveness. I was horribly rude in my behavior today."

I waited. Which part, Edward? I silently seethed to myself. Finally, I realized that I couldn't hold it in anymore. "What are you sorry for? Telling me that I'm now allowed to make decisions about my own body, or by trying to make me feel guilty after we had sex?"

"Yes. Both, love. I just spoke to my mother, and she made me understand a few things. Made me realize how horribly I had treated you." He stepped forward, but not too close. Like he was trying to keep his distance from me. "I have no say in what you choose. I love you, and I will support you. If you want this life, I will tell you the good and the bad...all the consequences that come from this choice. I'll help make sure you understand everything so that you can make an informed decision."

I narrowed my eyes at him. I was still mad, even though I understood and appreciated what he was saying, I still couldn't stop the anger from rising up. "And if I choose to do this? Would you change me?"

He closed his eyes. "I don't know if I can."

"Because you don't want me to have this life."

"No, Bella, that's not why." He opened his eyes and walked closer to me. "I don't think I'd be capable of stopping."

I stood staring at him; stunned. "What do you mean? I thought you said you had control over your thirst for human blood."

He looked frustrated as he took a couple steps closer to me. "It's...I do, for the most part. But it's your blood. If you were to be that close to me, your blood on my tongue...well, I don't believe I'd be capable of stopping."

He was hedging around something, I could tell. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Your blood calls to me more than any other human. Carlisle said that it's called a 'singer,' and it's quite rare from what he understands. It means that your blood calls to me more than any other person would."

I sat down on the couch, still stunned. "Why wouldn't you have told me this before?"

I watched him walk closer, sitting on the edge of the couch. "I didn't want to scare you. I am in control of it, love, I promise. I wanted you as a person more than I wanted your blood. Mother helped me after the first time I met you to control it."

My eyes grew wide. "That's why you were angry with me the first day you met me!"

He nodded. "I was angry because you were there; that you would pose such a huge threat to me and my family, because I didn't think I'd be able to resist you."

I couldn't find any words to say, so I listened as he described his hunt with his mother, what she told him about our future. And how he had decided to befriend me, because he trusted her fully. I couldn't believe he hadn't told me that; I might have been more careful. I scoffed at myself; I never seemed to have control around him. And suddenly I realized that it didn't matter. If he had told me, would I have acted any different? Probably not.

I sighed in defeat. "I understand why you didn't tell me that. But it's the same as the cell number thing, Edward. You can't keep things from me. You can't lie to me. You and I cannot work at all if you do that." I shifted over so I was sitting next to him. His smell wafted over me, and I found that once again I couldn't control myself as much as I thought I should. I moved so that I was straddling his legs, and his arms came around me.

I rested my forehead on his. "You have to tell me things so we can make decisions as a couple. If you didn't want to have sex before marriage, that's something you should have said. I don't want to force you into something you aren't ready for, or don't want. I love you, dammit. We are in this together, Edward."

He nodded into my head, tightening his arms around me. "I'm so sorry, Bella. I got carried away and I couldn't stop. I didn't want you to feel rejected, and I was thinking like a man, not a hundred and some odd year vampire. But you are right; I should have been clear to you about how I felt.

"I love you, too, Bella. So much that it consumes me. I lost sight of my morals for a moment when you were that close. You overwhelm me, love."

I snickered, leaning back so I could look at him better. "You do that to me, frequently. Silly vampire. You have to tell me stuff. I'm not the mind reader!"

He smirked. "I will, from now on. I promise." He kissed my nose. "I'm sorry, love."

I sighed. "I'm sorry, too. I shouldn't have just stomped out. I should have talked to you, not just got angry and left." I frowned a little, choosing my next words carefully. "Do you regret what we did?"

He lost his smirk pretty quickly. "Only in that I wish we had been married first. Otherwise, no, love. Not at all. It was the best experience of my existence. I loved being with you like that; feeling you everywhere...being connected to you like I never have before. It was amazing for me."

Not having any words to say, I leaned in and captured his lips. He kissed me back fully, tongue sliding on my lips. I groaned and leaned into him even more, want spreading through my body like a raging fire. All too soon, though, he pulled back. His face was frustrated.

"Hold that thought, love. My siblings are close. I can hear their thoughts."

Edward

Bella and I separated, and I ran into the bedroom to clean up quickly, so as to minimize what they smelled when they walked in. Bella walked over to the kitchen, making herself a snack. I walked back in the living room, just as Emmett burst through the door.

"Hey, little bro...Bells." He glanced around, smirking. I could hear that I hadn't cleaned up well enough, because he knew exactly what had been going on. "What's been going on? You two having a good time?"

Bella turned around, pointing a spatula at him. "Shut up, Em."

He laughed, walking over to her and putting her in a bear hug, lifting her slightly off the floor. "I missed you, you big trouble maker."

She smirked at him as he put her down. But she sidestepped him and ran over to Rose, hugging her tightly. Rose smiled at her and wound her arms around her, too. "We'll talk later," Rose said, holding Bella close.

As was normal, Jasper stayed sort on the outside edge of the group. He was under control, but always worried that he wouldn't be for long. Because of that, he didn't want to get too close. Instead of greeting Bella the way the other two did, he leaned against the far wall, next to the door, and looked at me.

Liz and Alice said that they will be here within an hour or two. We made it here as fast as we could. I nodded in understanding.

"Bella, that coven that Mother warned us about. They are closer than we originally thought. They will be here soon." I glanced up at my brother. "What should we do, Jazz? What's the plan?"

Everyone shifted to look at my brother. We all trusted him to figure out the best way to handle the situation. He stood up, taking a step closer to us. "Rose, Emmett and I will head them off. When they get closer, we'll meet them and take care of the leader. He is the primary focus for this attack. Alice saw that one would escape, and the other would join us once the leader is taken out."

"Jazz, I think I should go with you. Rose can stay with Bella; you may need me on the field with you." I knew that being able to read their minds would be key. I needed to be there to eliminate the treat against Bella.

He nodded slowly. "I assumed you would want to stay with her, but you are right, Edward. It's better if you are with us." He looked at Bella. "Are you ok with staying with Rose?"

She nodded, arms still around my sister. "Rose will keep me safe. You need Edward's mind reading out there; he should go."

Rose looked up at me. I'll protect her with my life, Edward. I promise. I love her, too.

I nodded in response. Bella walked back into the kitchen, Rose following, to finish making her food. I walked closer to Jasper, Emmett following me.

"What did Alice say about their abilities? Do they have any?"

"The one that will get away has a talent for escape. The leader, though, that's the real problem. He's a tracker. When he smells Bella close, he'll want her. We have to take him out before he poses that kind of threat."

I took in what he said, fear gripping me. Tracker. I fished my cell out of my jeans pocket, and brought it to my ear.

"Hey, Edward. They made it, right?" Alice said, answering the phone.

"Just once it would be nice to call you and have you just say hello, Alice," I teased her. "Yes, they made it. We switched up the plan-"

"Yes, I know. It's better that way. I see you being able to handle this guy faster now. Just make sure you don't try to follow the one that escapes. That makes things worse later, according to Liz." I heard her shuffling in the background, sounding like she was grabbing papers of some kind. "Carlisle and Liz just forged some paperwork on Charlie's condition. He was able to call the police headquarters in Forks this morning, and it seems that he was able to convince him of how bad his condition is. But we need to follow it up with some paperwork."

"Thanks for the update, Alice. How is he? Esme?"

"Good. Great, actually. They are all impressed with how well he is handling this whole thing. Eleazer was telling us about his gift..." Her voice carried off and she became quiet.

"Alice? What did you see?"

"Edward, you need to go now! They are within five miles of you. They already smelled Bella in a meadow near the cabin."

I cursed at myself. I hadn't thought to cover our tracks from her injury earlier that day. "She fell earlier. I bet they smell that." I glanced up at Jasper and Emmett; they were nearing the door already. "I gotta go, Alice. Watch out for us and let me know if anything changes, ok?"

"I will, Edward."

I hung up the phone, and walked over to Bella. I kissed her softly. "I love you. I'll be back before you know it. Stay with Rose, ok? She'll keep you safe."

She threw her arms around me. "Keep yourself safe. Promise me!"

"I promise, love."

Bella

I walked the three of them out of the cabin, and my heart started beating fast. I was nervous for them; hoping that things went according to Alice's thoughts. I glanced up at Rose, who was smirking at me, leaning against the counter.

"So, what have you been doing since you got here?" She had a knowing look on her face, which caused me to blush.

"Nothing, really. Not much to do here."

"Bella, we are going to be sisters someday. You can talk to me." Rose took a step closer to me as I scooped my omelet off the skillet and onto a plate. "I can tell that you and Edward were, um, intimate."

My eyes shot to her. "What? How can you tell?"

"I can smell it."

My blush grew rapidly then, and I pushed away from her, walking into the living room to sit down on the couch. She sat down carefully beside me. "Oh god," I said, covering my eyes with my hands. "This is so embarrassing."

"One thing to get used to with this family, Bella, is that none of us have privacy. Think about it! Liz knows all of the possible decisions we could make, Alice sees them once we make them, Jasper makes us feel all warm and squishy about them, and Edward watches the whole thing in each of our minds." She put her hand on mine, pulling it away from my eyes. "Don't be embarrassed by loving your boyfriend and being with him. I just want to make sure you are ok."

"My mind is sort of going all over the place right now," I confessed, taking a bite of my food. "I never thought I would enjoy something so much, but he sort of made me feel guilty after. Saying he should have married me before we did it. And then I stomped out of the room like a two-year-old. We talked, though, and he understands that we should have had that conversation before we went that far. And I apologized and everything.

"I don't know, Rose. I feel like he wants me, and doesn't want me, at the same time. He is barely even willing to discuss the option of me changing into a vampire."

Rose's eyes got wide at that. "Is that something you are considering?"

I nodded, not meeting her eyes. "I want to stay with him forever. With my father, too. If I stay a human then I'll die someday and the rest of you would have to go on without me. It doesn't seem fair that you guys get everything you wanted, while I have to remain a fragile human."

"Bella, listen to me. None of us got what we wanted. Not one damn one of us. We all adjust to what we have now, but it's not perfect."

"I don't understand." I looked into her fierce eyes. "You all seem so happy."

Rose shook her head. "I wasn't always. Did Edward tell you how I died?" I shook my head. "That's nice of him; probably letting me tell my story. I won't go into full details, but I was happy as a human. Elated, actually. I was dating someone that I loved, and I saw it all with him. Love, marriage, children, grandchildren. But one night when he was really drunk, he attacked me, with four of his closest friends. Carlisle found me after they had thrown me in the gutter to die. They used my body in ways I didn't know possible at that time.

"I was angry when I woke up after the change. I didn't want this life. I wanted a marriage and children, with grandchildren someday. I wanted to find someone who loved me, who wouldn't hurt me as he had; someone to grow old with. It was better once I found Emmett, but I realized that we would never grow old together. Never be more than what we are.

"Liz actually helped me a lot over the years. She would pull me aside and tell me about my choices. That I could remain bitter and angry, or I could find a way to accept what I was. She told me that my future happiness and friendships relied on my choosing to accept my life. We would talk for hours on end, and finally I did feel better." She looked down for a minute. "I accepted what I have, Bella, but it's not what I wanted."

"I'm so sorry, Rose. I had no idea."

She shook her head. "It's not a story I enjoy telling. But I wanted you to see that none of us got what we wanted. All Jasper wanted was to be an officer in the military. He was attacked and changed by a sadistic vampire building a vampire army; he was drafted into her ranks for almost a century before he finally left.

"Esme wanted a family, like me, children, grandchildren, everything. She threw herself off a cliff when her little baby died. Liz thought she would grow old with her husband, Edward's father. Edward thought he would be an officer in the army, too, helping to stop World War one.

"Emmett and Alice are probably the most content, as they don't remember much from their human lives. And Carlisle knew he wanted to be a doctor. The three of them are who they want to be, but they feel the constraint of our lives as the rest of us do. We will always be this."

I took in everything she had said, feeling the ache of loss for herself, Jasper, Esme...everyone. "I guess I didn't really understand." I sighed. "I just don't want to lose my family, Rose. You guys are all I have, including Charlie. I want to be with all of you forever. I don't want death to separate us."

She surprised me by leaning over and hugging me. "I just want you to think about this before you make a decision. Make sure it's what you want, because you can never go back. I love you like a sister already, so do the rest of the family. We will accept your choice, Bella, but I don't want you to make this decision in response to Charlie being turned, vampires out to get you, or sleeping with Edward."

I hugged her back, enjoying the comfort that my new family brought me. "I promise."

Edward

We tracked them to the meadow like Alice had instructed. I left my complete trust in Rose to protect Bella, but I had to admit it was hard to leave her. I just wanted to wrap my arms around her and hide her somewhere safe. Make sure nothing touched her. But my brothers needed me more.

Thinking about a special time recently, Edward? Emmett laughed at me in his head. My little bro is finally a man.

"Shut up, Emmett," I said, copying Bella from earlier. He continued to laugh in his head. I shifted to Jasper's thoughts, and blocked Emmett out as much as I could.

I'm impressed by your strength, Edward. I'm not sure I could have done what you did with Bella.

"Thank you, Jasper. I didn't feel very strong at the time."

She's alive, Edward. That's huge. I'm happy for you both, I'm just amazing you had the strength not to kill her.

I winced at his words, but didn't comment. My mind was still focusing on the tiny details of being with her. I should have been trying to hear the vampires headed our way, but I couldn't. I could still feel her on top of me; I could hear the moans that came out of her mouth...everything about being with her had been amazing, but I hadn't been lying when I told Jasper I hadn't felt strong in that moment. I felt powerless to her. Like she owned me entirely, and I was seconds away from losing all coherent thought.

Dude, seriously. You are going to distract me. Think about something else! I heard Jasper almost shout in his head. I muttered an apology and tried to reach out to see if I could find the coven heading toward us. It didn't take long; they were closer than I thought.

"I can hear them. Alice and Mother were right; there are three of them. James, Victoria and Laurant. James is the leader, though he's falling back a little in hopes that we think Laurant is the head of their coven. Victoria is already plotting ways to escape. She must be the one that gets away."

I whispered quietly to them all that I was learning by listening to their thoughts. I didn't want the coven to hear, but soon I stopped talking because they were simply too close. I saw them enter the meadow on the other side, slinking through the surrounding fog like predators in a bad movie. I tensed immediately as I heard James scoff at us, thinking they would easily be able to take us.

As I predicted, though, Laurant was in the lead. He stepped forward again, arms raised. "We mean you no harm. We were simply searching for a delicious scent surrounding this place. We are hungry, that is all."

"The human is with us. She will not be your next meal," Jasper said, taking a step closer, mirroring Laurant's actions. "We ask that you leave before we are forced to defend her."

Her? Interesting. There's something protective that they feel for this human. I heard James say in his head. He crouched down, inhaling a deep breath. I saw that he could smell Bella, and his mind went into overdrive on how much he wanted her. I mirrored his actions and growled, protective of my mate. I was taken aback at how happy my actions made him.

I will have a game of this, then. He will try to stop me. This is excellent. I was hoping for another sport today.

I growled at him again. Emmett, sensing that I wasn't going to stop, took a step forward. Victoria flitted to the back of the group, edging toward the forest. Her eyes were wide in alarm as she took us in. Laurant, though, didn't move at all. His eyes were on Jasper, not even acknowledging that
Emmett and I were there as well.

We stood there staring at each other for a moment, but I couldn't stand still for long. I glanced at Emmett, and he said "Go!" in his head. We launched at James at the same time, slamming into him from both sides. Emmett grabbed him around the neck, securing him in place, while I swiveled and kicked him right in the head. It wasn't enough to detach it, but it gave Emmett what he needed. He tore the head off swiftly and then we ripped and tore, tearing him apart together, as though it was a well-rehearsed dance. He was destroyed before the others knew what was happening.

As Emmett lit a fire and started to throw the pieces of James in it, I glanced around. Victoria was nowhere to be seen, but Laurant had shifted over, getting away from the fire. His hands were still up in caution, but he wasn't thinking of running. Jasper approached him, warily.

"You are not upset that we destroyed him," my brother said, standing within two feet of the new vampire. "In fact, you are relieved."

Laurant nodded, eyes focused on the fire next to him. "I have been thinking for some time about distancing myself from James and Victoria. But I didn't want his wrath. I have never seen anyone quite like him in my three-hundred-years. I knew he wouldn't let me survive for long after leaving them."

"But you are not tied to Victoria, either. Her leaving hasn't caused you any distress."

Again, he nodded. "I have no ties to them."

Jasper reached his hand out, his eyes careful. "Join us. We would like to show you our way; how we live. You can be of great help to us."

Once the James-fire was fully secured, I opted to return to the cabin. Jasper and Emmett were continuing to talk with Laurant, but I wanted to check on Bella. Make sure Victoria hadn't circled back around to the cabin.

I walked in finding her and Rose on the couch, deep in conversation. Bella jumped at the door opening, and she stood up, running over to me. She threw her arms around me, and I picked her up, relishing in the comfort that she always brought me.

A/N: I know that this was a little back and forth, but it was the only way I could figure out to tell the story the way I wanted to. So, Edward should have talked to Bella and Bella shouldn't have acted the way she did. I hope that you guys understand them both a little more.

Also, I loved writing this interaction between Rose and Bella. Bella, being young as she is (and also in love), maybe romanticizing things a little. She needed a little piece of reality. And because I wrote Rose as a nicer character, it seemed appropriate for her to be the one to tell Bella. What did you guys think?

Thanks again to my sister for prereading, and my beta for always being there to help me with the story. You guys are so great!