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When I woke up in the morning; the bed was cool. I rolled over onto my side to see Edward already gone so I picked up my phone, checking the time.

It was 11 in the morning; I was awake at 11 on my holidays. God, here I used to sleep in till the afternoons…I grinned at the thought before getting up and hauling myself to Edward's vast bathroom. What was it with their exuberance with everything? Not that I minded, I loved his huge bathtub and the stone finished shower.

I dressed and padded downstairs bare foot to find Edward and Alice at the laptop still on the air plane search.

"You can't tell me you haven't found flights yet. Maybe doing it in person would be better. All you have to do is bat those lovely lashes." I joked, leaning my head against Alice's shoulder.

"Funny; but this really is getting tedious. Edward's insisting on finding the flights nearing this week but they only allow up till next week – if we're all to go."

I stared at her shiny hair for a bit. Something in the way she'd said it made me squint suspiciously at Edward who was beginning to look a little sheepish under my scrutiny. "Let me guess; he's trying to get you flights in which I can't stash myself." I glared as she grinned, nodding. "I thought you said I could come," I rounded on him.

Edward leaned forward, his long frame, draped across the side of the desk. "I said maybe, I'm still considering the proposal." He corrected.

I scowled at him. "You don't always get a say in what I want to do, Edward." I hissed at him.

"I do if it means you live," he retorted.

"Oh guys, come on, cool it, why don't you? Listening to you bicker all the time gets old fast." Alice complained.

We shut up but still glowered for part of the day.

"You're going where?" Charlie and Bella gaped as I stood in front of them, shuffling uncomfortably. Thank god, I'd brought Alice with me to explain this 'impromptu' visit to the cousins.

"Alaska," I mumbled again.

"Absolutely not," Charlie said.

I opened my mouth to argue but shut it. This was different. In Forks, Charlie was my guardian. He was the closest thing I had to a father, next to Carlisle or even Billy. He wasn't my over protective vampire boyfriend with whom I could fight and tempt into letting me come. His word had to be final.

"Please Charlie," I said.

"I don't understand; why do you want to go to Alaska?" he looked at Alice for an explanation and as usual my pixie best friend had one ready.

"Rosalie told our cousin that Edward was finally dating and she got her curious. We were already planning to go there for the holidays and Tanya suggested that Tulika should come along. We promise to take care of her very nicely. She isn't going to leave our side and if you want you can always call any of us for an update." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a sheet of paper with a complete itinerary and numbers on it.

Charlie gaped at it for a good solid minute.

"You've put in a lot of effort to just introduce Tulika to the family." He said weakly.

"Well," she smiled at me softly, "She's a very special person to us."

Charlie nodded his eyes still on the paper he'd been handed before he looked at me.

"I want you to call us everyday you're there. Also…I want Alice to keep an eye on you." He blushed slightly and I raised my eyebrows. I didn't need Edward to tell me exactly what he was thinking about.

"Don't worry Charlie; she'll be in very good hands." Alice smiled and gave Charlie a squeeze which made him gruffly nod.

I smiled and hugged him before following Alice outside to see her to Edward's car.

"Pack only a couple of clothes. Rosalie and I have your luggage ready anyway." She muttered to me and I groaned. It wasn't like I minded the Cullens getting me things but I still depended on my independence.

"Alice," I began but she shook her head. "Edward insisted. You'll understand when you see it. He'll pick you up in a couple of hours. You'll spend the day at our place then we'll board the plane at night." She explained before driving off.

"I'll miss you."

I turned around to see Bella standing uncertainly in my bedroom. True to my word, I was only packing under clothes, two jeans, three tops and I'd be wearing my all season boots.

"Aw, Bells, I'll be back before you know it," I cajoled.

"It's just that…all this time you've been back, I feel like we've barely spoken to each other."

I slowly put down the sweater I was folding, turning to watch her sad expression. I sighed to myself. All this vampire drama and my own need to compensate for the time I'd missed with Edward had probably blinded me that there were other people in my life here. I was pulling a book Bella and ignoring everyone and spending all my time with the Cullens. Well, that had to be moderated I guess, considering it felt like I was back for good.

"Come here," I patted the bed and she moved forward, gingerly sitting at the edge. I'd forgotten that she was the first person here I'd seen, heard, had anything to do with. She was the first person I'd come to love here.

"Yeah…?" she asked.

"How about once we get back we can all go for a movie? We could gather anyone who's insane enough to join forces with us and go to Port Angeles," I suggested.

She watched me for a second before her face lit up and she smiled. "I'd like that. Also, you could come by the reservation. Jacob's friend have these bikes they like to ride and they cliff jump. We could get Edward and Stephen to come too." She said.

My eyes widened.

"No, we won't go to the reservation." I immediately said.

What with Victoria hanging about the woods and the vampires and wolves on high alert with every hackle up, there was no way in hell I was letting Steph or Bell anywhere near the area. Her face fell.

"What I meant was," I hastily back tracked, "Jake spends the entire time there; we could invite him with us somewhere else. Get some shopping done with the girls, I hear you like that kind of thing nowadays," I nudged her playfully and she grinned.

It felt nice.

"I have been meaning to talk to you." I looked up from the novel to see Edward leaning in the doorway, looking hesitant.

"You don't say," I murmured, shutting the book.

"I know I promised that I won't press you but I really want to know. Seeing the fact that you were always so sure that Bella and I were meant to be, I think I have a right to know what exactly happens in these books of yours." He said, coming in and sitting on the bed.

"Basically you're curious." I said drily.

"Yes," he exhaled.

I sighed, biting my lip as I contemplated my vampire lover. "I hope you have had your breakfast. This is going to be a long thing." I finally said.

With that I began the long journey into Twilight.

"To surmise it…It all begins in Twilight. Bells moves here because of Renee and Phil and she mopes till she becomes intrigued by your hateful behavior. I mean seriously, she should've gotten over it but then I suppose you guys wouldn't have fallen in love. Anyways, you save her from Tyler's van and those…thugs in Port Angeles and she gets Jacob to tell her the tale of the cold ones. The rest of it goes normally I guess until you guys play baseball and James gets a whiff of her. She runs away and gets bitten while you suck it out. In New Moon you leave her and she goes to Jake for solace but then Alice sees her cliff jumping and thinks she committed suicide and whoosh, off you go to the Volturi to have your damn head ripped off. She saves you. In Eclipse, Victoria created new born vampires and in Breaking Dawn you guys get married and have a creepy CGI baby." I said.

By the end of it, Edward was looking nauseous.

"I know; it's a lot to take in." I offered sympathetically.

He stared at me in a daze for a bit before shaking his head.

"I think I just closely missed a bullet." He muttered and I rolled my eyes, giggling. His face softened and he gave me a teasing smile in return. "I always knew you saved me but now I know exactly what you saved me from." He said.

I smacked his arm and he grinned, before his face sobered.

"Now, I hope you know I'm taking you to Denali under very strict terms and conditions." He said seriously.

"I know; even if they're not necessary." I said, flippantly.

"Tulika, I mean it," he warned making me sigh, frowning at him. "Fine, I won't behave like a petulant child, happy?" I said snidely.

He glowered at me for a minute before giving up, reaching out and pulling me to his chest.

"I just don't want to go through what I did when I lost you." He said, softly, almost as if he didn't want me to hear him. I stilled, raising my head to look at his vulnerable eyes. "You won't have to. I'm not much into self inflicted pain myself," I said just as softly as him though I know he could hear it even if I hadn't spoken out loud.

His eyes roamed over my face, taking in my expression before they drifted to my mouth. I leaned in slightly and he met me halfway, our lips brushing once before meeting more firmly. I pressed against his side, one hand on his chest while I ran my other hand up his neck, my fingers curling into the silky hair at the base of his neck.

He moved, turning onto his front and pulled me up with him before laying my head down on his cloud like pillows. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as his coaxed my lips open, exploring every corner of my mouth expertly, a guttural groan falling from his throat. I pulled away from him to breathe and his lips curved against my jaw, kissing, sucking and nipping at the soft skin at the intersection of my chin and neck.

I placed both hands on his chest, pulling at the collar of his sweater as I pressed my lips to his shoulder before he pulled away, his eyes wide and fiery.

I looked at him in surprise as he untangled himself from my arms, pushing himself at the edge of the bed.

I sat up.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I just thought of something you said about Bella…" he trailed off.

I gave him my best not amused look.

"You were thinking of my best friend while you were kissing me like that? Classy Cullen," I said sarcastically and he snorted, "No, what you said was that the Tracker marked Bella for pure fun, but in your case he was doing it for someone?" I nodded, frowning as I wondered where he was going with this.

"You still think its Stephanie Meyer?" he asked.

I shrugged.

"Do you have any proof?"

I stopped short.

"Why would I need proof? Where exactly am I going to get proof? It's not like I can march into her home and demand she explain herself to me. Besides, who else could it be?"

"Anyone, Tulika, it could be anyone. I think once we get back from Alaska we should have Roosevelt over."

"He can't help you. He's just a scientist researching dimensional phenomena." I said.

"He's still the best lead we have."

He leaned forward, pressing his lips to the top of my head before getting up. "Get dressed, we leave in an hour. Oh and…Happy Valentine's day." He pulled out a heart shaped candy box from his pocket and gave it to me.

I pinched the ribbon between my thumb and forefinger as I looked at him disbelieving. He chuckled as he left the room.

24 hours later, I was cursing myself and my big head as I sat in the rental car. Edward was putting our luggage into the trunk while Carlisle, Alice and Jasper were waiting for their own car. Of course, all the cars they'd taken were state of class, expensive so I had the heater close at hand. I reached out and increased the temperature.

Alaska at this time of year was freezing. I knew it in theory and had come mentally prepared. Right, so that didn't help my body much when it came into contact with below 25 degrees. Even through the layers of cashmere, wool and denim, I was close to getting frost bite.

Edward opened the door and slid into the driver's seat, glancing at me when he caught me shivering.

"I told you it'd be cold. You should've come with me when it was summer." He said lightly.

"Cold…? I'm not cold. Who's cold? What's cold?" I rattled, my teeth chattering and he smirked, reaching out to turn the heater to maximum. "Thanks," I said grudgingly.

The rest of the drive passed by in comfortable silence as Edward and I posed some questions we might have missed out on in the six months we were apart. Alice, who was driving the other car, engaged him in a playful race and he gave in, amused. Five minutes in, Alice gave up, saying Edward was going to win anyway.

"We're here," he said suddenly and I jolted back to reality as I looked at the towering mansion that was mostly slate and glass.

Edward unbuckled my seat belt and grabbed my hand. "You're ready for this?" he asked.

"As ready as I'll ever be," I said in return.

He nodded and went out, using his speed to open my door, pulling me tightly against him. "Oh god, relax, Edward," I whispered but he didn't let go as we followed Carlisle, flanked by Alice and Jasper.

I squinted to see the front double doors open and a woman walked out, tall, slender with a mass of strawberry blonde hair. She was lithe like all vampires, bounding to meet us with a smile on her exquisite face. Her smile widened when they landed on Edward. Oh right, didn't she have a crush on him?

She finally spotted me, short and freezing, tucked under Edward's arm, and her smile turned uncertain. I probably looked completely pink. "Hello Carlisle," she said finally, hugging him.

His answering voice was smooth and familiar.

"Tanya."

Aye Aye!

Ok, so I love introducing the cousins! They were kinda sorta annoying in the movies but I think I can make them work if I stick to the Book versions, don't you?

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