Today's Quote: Dear Stress. Let's break up.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

I tried to concentrate on the words of my textbook, but the constant drumming of Bella's nails on the table made it difficult for me to process anything else. There was no rhyme or rhythm to it either, which made it that much harder to drone out.

Tap. Tap. Tappity-tap.

"Bella, you're driving me insane."

Tap. Tap.

"Am I? Oh." Silence. "Sorry." Silence again. Blissful, sweet, amazing silen-

Tap. Tappity-tap-tap. Tap. Tap-

"Will you stop that!" I screamed, throwing a pillow at Bella's hands.

"I'm sorry!" she whined, throwing the pillow back at me. It landed against a vase, tipping it over dangerously before it wobbled and spun back to standing upright. "I'm bored."

"And so I should suffer too?"

Bella pouted. "Maybe I should ring Jake again."

I didn't have the energy to even roll my eyes at her undying persistence. When Bella and I had gotten sick, so had Jacob. The only difference was, he apparently caught mono, and had been grounded by Billy for the month. The Reservation's phone lines were down too, and so Bella had been left with no one to talk to for the past three days. How I was supposed to play nice with her for 3 and a bit more weeks I had no idea.

"Do you think I should?"

"Hmm?"

"Call Jake," Bella said, giving me a look like it was obvious. "Maybe they got the phones fixed."

"You really believe that?"

"...No."

I turned my attention back to the textbook. Hey, I may be skipping-a-grade smart, but a girl's still gotta study.

Tap. Tap. Tap-tap-tap-tappity-tappitty-tap-tap-tappitty-tap-tappitay-

"Oh my god stop it!"

"I'm bored!"

"I'm studying!"

"I'm still bored!"

I closed the book with a snap. "Okay, that's it. Get up."

Bella pushed herself off the chair by the table, staring at me warily. "Are you gonna beat me up?"

"What? No. Probably not. Maybe not." I smiled wickedly at Bella, and she shivered. The idea certainly had some merit. "Just… Let's do something. I'll take you on a walk."

"Like a dog?"

"Exactly. We'll try and find that stupid meadow from ages ago."

"Jake and I were doing that together."

"So? Jake's sick, you're ansty, and bonus, if you fall and get knocked out, you'll be much quieter."

"No."

"Yes."

Bella glared at me. I glared back. Perfect; a staring contest.

Thirty minutes later we were pushing past shrubs and trees to find the mythical meadow Bella was so obsessed with.

The forest was full of life today, all the little creatures enjoying the momentary dryness. All the birds chirped and cawed, and the insects buzzed pleasantly. Even if we didn't find the meadow, I'd still consider the walk a success - the forest was gorgeous.

So content to be one with the environment was I, didn't notice that Bella had stopped in her tracks, and ended up bumping into her. Predictably, she fell dramatically to the ground, a new graze adoring her leg.

"Sorry," I said, helping her back up. "Why'd you stop?"

"This is it."

I looked around the area, taking it in. It began with a low arch made by two vine maples—pushing past the chest-high ferns—into the meadow. It was as perfectly round as if someone had intentionally created the flawless circle, tearing out the trees but leaving no evidence of that violence in the waving grass. To the east, I could hear the stream bubbling quietly. It was the wrong season for wildflowers; the ground was thick with tall grass that swayed in the light breeze like ripples across a lake.

"Oh. Good. It's pretty," I said.

Bella didn't answer, instead, she sunk down into the grass and began to gasp loudly.

"Bella?" I asked worriedly, as she started breathing louder. "Bella, what's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"He's - he's not - he left me."

"Edward? Bella, what's going on."

I crouched down next to her and tried to push her into a better position.

"He's not here," she gasped. "He's not here. Why? Whywhywhy?"

"I - I don't know. You need to breathe."

"I can't!" she screamed. She shoved me hurtling away, and I fell roughly on my back. "Why isn't he here?"

I heard the birds screech loudly, and then the sounds of their wings fluttering frantically as the flew to get away from Bella's voice.

"Bella, calm down."

I didn't know what had gotten into her. She was scaring me. Bella, scared me.

But not as much as Laurant's appearance did. Tall. Dark. Shiny skin that I had only seen before on vampires. That unnatural smile and all-too pleasant facial features. Black hair that made me think of Emmett, before realising that no, this was not a friend. Not an enemy either. But not friendly.

Bella froze before me, and I watched a flash of emotions flick across her face before finally landing on one that scared me: recognition. She too knew this man, and my fear was confirmed. Laurant. In the flesh, standing before us, was a man who had been content to kill humans. A man who only left James's coven out of fear for what the Cullens might do to him. A coward, yes. A dangerous, scary, vampire coward.

"Laurent!" Bella cried in surprised pleasure.

"Bella?" he asked, looking incredibly astonished. He turned his head to look at me directly. "And Morgana."

I smiled tightly. "It's interesting to see you here."

"And to see you both."

It was impossible how exactly the same Laurent looked. I suppose it was very silly and human to expect some kind of change in the last year. But there was something… I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

"We do live here," Bella said. "I thought you'd gone to Alaska."

He stopped about ten paces away, cocking his head to the side. "You're right," he agreed. "I did go to Alaska. Still, I didn't expect… When I found the Cullen place empty, I thought they'd moved on."

"Oh, well, they're always looking for opportunities," I said.

"Is William gone too?"

"Yes. I'll tell him you said hi."

I had no intention of ever speaking to William in the near future, or even a way to contact him except through Carlisle, but Laurant didn't need to know that.

"I'd appreciate that." He smiled at me, his pearly whites almost glimmering in the sun. "Tell me, why did they leave you both behind. As I remember, you were both… somewhat pets to the Cullens."

I smiled wryly. "Something like that."

"Hmm," he said, thoughtful again.

At that precise moment, I realized why he looked the same—too much the same. After Carlisle told me that Laurent had stayed with Tanya's family, I'd begun to picture him, on the rare occasions that I thought of him at all, with the same golden eyes that the Cullens had. That good, animal-eating vampires had.

My own eyes met Laurant's, and I tried not to react at his dark ruby irises.

"Do they visit often?" he asked, still casual, but his weight shifted toward me.

"Now and again," Bella said. Even I could hear how she was trying to make her voice light, relaxed. "The time seems longer to me, I imagine. You know how they get distracted…"

"I was only speaking to Carlisle last night about how much I couldn't wait for his next visit," I said.

Bella whipped around to face me. "You did?"

"Of course, Bella," I said sweetly. I begged her with my eyes not to freak out, to accuse me of anything, to just play along. "Weren't you wondering why I was up till 3?"

"Right," she said flatly. "Talking to Carlisle."

If we got out of this, I knew I was so going to get an earful from her.

Laurent took a casual step to the side, gazing around at the little meadow. I didn't miss that the step brought him closer to us.

I made an unsubtle show of pulling off my gloves and tucking them into my jean pocket. I worried I'd be able to take on Laurant alone, but hopefully the reminder of my power would be enough to make him back down.

His eyes flicked curiously to my hands, before back up to Bella's face.

"So how are things working out in Denali? Carlisle said you were staying with Tanya?" Bella's voice was high, too high.

The question made him pause. "I like Tanya very much," he mused. "And her sister Irina even more… I've never stayed in one place for so long before, and I enjoy the advantages, the novelty of it. But, the restrictions are difficult… I'm surprised that any of them can keep it up for long." He smiled at me conspiratorially. "Sometimes I cheat."

"Oh," Bella said in a faint voice. "Jasper has problems with that, too."

"Really?" Laurent seemed interested. "Is that why they left?"

"No," I answered honestly. "Jasper is more careful at home."

"Yes," Laurent agreed. "I am, too."

The step forward he took now was quite deliberate.

"Did Victoria ever find you?" Bella asked, desperate to distract him.

I focused on pushing my energy into my hands. Control. Power. Keep it calm, but keep it hot. Wisps of steam were already being created from the moisture in the air reacting with the heat I was giving off.

"Yes," he said, hesitating on that step. "I actually came here as a favour to her." He made a face. "She won't be happy about this."

"About what?" Bella said eagerly, inviting him to continue.

"About me killing you," he answered in a seductive purr.

Calm, calm, waitwaitwait. Three more steps and then attack. Go for the head. Calm. Build up energy.

I was surprised to see how pale my hands were. I almost felt like they should be glowing red, or even decorated in dancing blue flames, and yet, nothing. Well, not nothing. I could feel the fire pulsing, just waiting to be released.

Laurant took another step towards us.

"She wanted to save that part for herself," he went on blithely. "She's sort of… put out with you, Bella. She thought it more appropriate to kill you than Edward—fair turnabout, mate for mate. She asked me to get the lay of the land for her, so to speak. I didn't imagine you would be so easy to get to. So maybe her plan was flawed—apparently it wouldn't be the revenge she imagined, since you must not mean very much to him if he left you here unprotected."

Another step.

He frowned. "I suppose she'll be angry, all the same."

"Then why not wait for her?" I choked out.

A mischievous grin rearranged his features. "Well, you've caught me at a bad time, Bella. I didn't come to this place on Victoria's mission—I was hunting. I'm quite thirsty, and you do smell… simply mouthwatering."

His hand reached out as if to stroke Bella's neck, and I batted it away, my arm erupting in a frenzy of fire. Bella screamed and jumped back, and I shoved my hands into Laurant's face.

I could feel him trying to wrestle me off, his fingers were twisting deep into my skin, blood dripped down my sides, but he couldn't shake me off. I managed to burn through his skin and I sunk my own fingers into his eyeballs, ignoring the squelch as I kept pushing and pushing through his charred head until, eventually, it was just a loosely compacted ball of ash.

"Ohmygod what did you just do!" Bella screeched. She screamed as I retracted my hands from the ash, shaking it off me like dirt.

"Saved our lives. You're welcome, by the way."

"What the fuck!"

"Isabella Marie, stop screaming, you're making them growl and I really don't want to face off like six giant wolves."

Bella stared at me dubiously. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I dunno, the giant wolves!" At her blank face, I grabbed Bella's wrist and pulled her close to me, twisting her as I went so that she was facing the beasts.

Six huge black shapes seemed to be stalking us from the tree line, quiet as a shadow, and creeping deliberately toward Bella and I. They were enormous—as tall as a horse, but thicker, much more muscular. One's long muzzle grimaced, revealing a line of dagger-like incisors. A grisly snarl rolled out from between the teeth, rumbling across the clearing like a prolonged crack of thunder.

Bella screamed loudly, the sound so piercing I dropped her wrist to clap my hands over my ears.

Another wolf, one with a reddish coat and big brown eyes stared at us carefully. He snorted once, before looking at the biggest wolf, presumably the alpha. He grunted, and then the pack turned on their heels and retreated as swiftly and sneakily as they had come.

"Oh my god," I whispered to myself. I slumped down to the ground, landing harshly against my arse. "Jesus, Bella, they were giant. Oh my god."

"You killed Laurant!"

"Get over it," I snapped. I threw a clump of grass at her, and she made a face before dropping to the ground too. "Do you - What do you think would have happened if I didn't, Bells?"

"... I don't know."

"Me neither. I mean, what if he was going to change his mind? What if it was a trap to… find Victoria and kill her."

Bella's expression softened. "He was going to kill us. You did the right thing."

I was surprised by her sudden one-eighty, and I must've let it show, because she continued.

"You are so much tougher than I, and that's not fair because I'm the big sister, and I should be looking after you. And I never really have. I'm sorry," she said. She took one of my hands and held it in hers. "I'm so, so sorry for everything that happened to you, and I want you to know I love you, and I trust you."

A sob escaped from me, and I blinked furiously. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't even know!" Bella half laughed and half cried. "But I needed to say it."

I launched into her arms, bowling her over, and began crying furiously into her shoulder. "I'm sorry," I cried. "I didn't want to kill him, I promise."

"I know, Morgana," Bella said. She rubbed circles into my back, and rocked me gently. "I know, but you did it to save me, and that's a good reason."

Bella let me continue to cry against her for a solid half an hour, before I pulled back. I rubbed at my eyes, though I was almost certain I was just making my mascara and blotchy face worse.

"Okay. What do we do now?" I asked.

"Toss him in a river?"

"Throw him off a cliff?" I suggested. Bella gave me a wry smile.

"Maybe we give him to some puppies. I bet he'd make a good teething toy."

"Oh my god Bella!" I spluttered through my laughter. "That's so wrong!"

"I know, but could you imagine?"

Images of cute, adorable puppies gnawing on Laurants body came to mind, and couldn't help but feel a little more uplifted about the day.

Thank you all for reading this, I can't wait to continue Morgana's journey with you all! Also, we made it to 350 Favourites, and over 450 Follows! Whoo!

chellekathrynnn - Thanks, I always miss writing HIB. Writer's block is a real bitch though. Hopefully I'll slowly create a more stable time table in the future, though.

eeeeaud - Thanks, I tried. I'm really working on trying to fix up Bella and Morgana's relationship, before, you know I destroy it. Just kidding. But for real it's been a bit of a work in progress, so I'm glad it's working.

magicbustrip - I'm so glad you enjoy how different it is. I'm really trying to just imagine how it would work in real life, and portray that instead of perfect, instant movie romances. Thank you for reading

Pinklips90 - Thank you, and I know, it's gonna be heaps of fun to write and the read.

Ghostwriter71 - Ugh I hate stomach flu so much! Also, as for the badgers, I do not know. I hate sports, and couldn't be bothered to research, so I just picked an animal lol. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if somewhere out there a real 'Badgers' team exists

lolistarkiller - Yup, I'm glad you're excited. :)

ksyushangel - The wolves are definitely not history - they're just getting started. And as for a Morgana/Wolves confrontation... today was kinda that, I guess? But don't worry, Morgana will have a real fight with them in the future, I promise.

Guest - Nope. Volturi drama will commence, don't worry, but the plot'll probably differ from the book a bit (or at least for Morgana, anyway).