No copyright infringement intended! This should be the last Bella chapter for a while. I believe the next chapter will be an Amanda chapter! How do you think she's coping with Peter and Charlotte there? What mischief could Peter be causing? The possibilities are endless!

Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews!

Bella POV

Chapter 15

I didn't realize exactly how late it was when I walked in the house. Charlie was sitting in the recliner, arms folded, staring at the door with a sour expression on his face. The TV was even off, so I knew I was in trouble. He had been keeping an eye on me a bit more than normal after my 3 day impromptu trip to Italy to save my ridiculous boyfriend's life. I couldn't tell him the real reason I left. He would lock me in a looney bin for sure, but when he found out the Cullen's were back just as swiftly and completely as they had left he was not a happy camper at all and didn't hesitate to let everyone know it. I couldn't fault him for his actions in regards to Edward, he was just being a dad trying to protect his daughter.

"Hi dad." I said sheepishly.

"Bella," he began, "where have you been? Curfew is at 9:00 pm, and last time I checked, it's closer to 11:00 than I would like it to be. You have some explaining to do young lady."

I wasn't a very good liar. Everyone knew this. So I had to think of something that would not only sound truthful, but I also needed to sell it to make it believable.

"I know I do, dad. I'm sorry I was late. The time slipped away from me." I stated.

"You need to let Edward know that if he wants to be in my good graces, then he needs to at least respect your curfew, which I put there for a reason." Charlie says.

"I wasn't with Edward, dad." I say. "I was with his sister Rosalie."

He looked a bit shocked at this, but waited patiently for me to continue.

"Rosalie and I don't really get along." I stated sincerely. "I wasn't sure what I ever did to deserve her loathing me, but tonight I kind of confronted her about it. I asked her if we could go somewhere to talk and even though I could see that she didn't want to, she agreed. I followed her out of her house and over to a creek close by so we could talk. I explained to her that I wasn't sure why she didn't like me and I wanted to clear the air. She told me that she didn't trust me and was worried for her brother. She said that she was afraid I'd break his heart again and she didn't want that. I explained to her that I didn't break his heart to begin with and I understood that she just wanted what was best for her brother. She's very protective."

"Uh huh." Said Charlie. "What else?"

"That was it, really." I replied. "We didn't really get the chance to become friends before they moved and I told her that I wanted to try and earn her trust. I guess we got caught up talking and by the time we were done it was 10:30. I asked her to drive me home and she agreed. That's it."

I knew that the only way I could get away with a lie was to throw some truth in and hope for the best. Rose and I had talked, that was true. The subject was the false part, but sounded believable enough to Charlie's ears. We women were notorious for our 'cat fights' over silly things. He seemed to be taking this all in and I would need him to forgive me if I wanted my plan for tomorrow to work. I would need to get out of the house, but I would also need both of us to be on good terms with each other before I 'died'. He would never forgive himself otherwise.

"Ok." He said. "Just make sure not to miss curfew again, and if you do, call me to let me know where you are." He looked at me sternly, but I could see the love he had for me shining out of his eyes.

"I will, dad." I replied. "I'm sorry. Although I do have a question for you since you're still up."

"Oh? What might that be?" he asked.

"Well, I was wondering if you would mind me going to Port Angeles tomorrow. I have a History paper due and the library here isn't equipped to handle the research I need to finish it. I was going to head to a bookstore tomorrow so I can get the books I need. Is that ok?" I ask.

"Why don't you do research online here at the house, Bells?" He asks.

"Well, I have. The paper that I'm doing needs 3 sources and one of them has to be a book." I state quickly. Again, all the best lies have some form of truth. I did actually have that History paper due, but I wasn't going to finish it like he thought I was.

"Fine," he states, "but be back home before 5:00 tomorrow. I would like to spend a little bit of time with you this weekend."

"Thanks dad!" I said enthusiastically as I run over to hug him. "I'm going to go ahead and get ready for bed. I'll see you in the morning!"

I hear him say "Goodnight, Bells" before I eagerly run up the stairs and into my bedroom. I take a minute to squeal a bit at my good fortune. This plan was actually going to work, I couldn't believe it. I decided that I needed a moment or two to shower and get changed, so I grab my toiletries bag and head to the bathroom. As I shower, I can't help but think that at this time tomorrow, I will be changing into a vampire. It's exciting.

I can't help but wonder what this will mean for mine and Edward's relationship. I guess I never really thought about the consequences of what asking Jasper to change me meant, which isn't like me at all. I should be feeling guilty for keeping such a secret from Edward, but I don't. I should be feeling more guilt and sorrow for leaving Charlie and Renee to mourn for their only child, but I don't. I should feel horrible for giving the wolves no say in this, especially Jake, but I can't find it in me to feel anything other than excitement and gratification. I feel at peace about this. It's the right move for me and it means I change on my own terms. That's satisfying. All I have to do now is wait.

Edward joins me in my room an hour later, after Charlie has started snoring, and the look on his face wasn't one I was familiar with. Understandable, I did hit him with a chair. I'm surprised he showed up and it must have shown on my face.

"You're wondering why I'm here?" he asks.

"Yes. I didn't think you'd want to see me tonight." I reply.

"Well," he states casually, "I admit I was shocked that you would be so mad at me that it would resort to physical violence, but I love you and I couldn't just leave you alone all night because we were mad at each other. We need to talk about your feelings and why it is that you decided it would be appropriate to hit me with Esme's dining room chair. Besides, it's become a bit of a habit for me to lay here at night with you and I can't easily break that habit."

"I really am sorry that I hit you." I said.

"You didn't hurt me, so there's nothing to forgive. It was just shocking, that's all." He states with a smirk.

"It just seemed to me that no matter what I said to you I couldn't get you to listen to what I had to say. Yes, you heard me, but that isn't the same thing. Not by a long shot. You honestly think I don't know what's best for me and that's not true. Believe it or not, I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions and choices. The only thing I could think of was maybe if I beat it into your thick skull, you would finally listen. Obviously smacking you myself would just get me hurt, so the chair was the sacrifice. It was the only thing big enough yet light enough to get your attention." I said willing him to understand.

"After you left with Rose," he says, "Esme sat me down and told me that I was being unkind to you. If there's one thing that gets on her nerves more than anything else, it's being rude to others. She made me realize that I made you angry with everything I said. She told me that I wasn't giving thought to your feelings and desires and because of my stubbornness your emotions ran away with you and you lashed out."

"That's pretty spot-on." I reply.

"I honestly didn't know I could make you that angry." He states. "I just want you to be happy."

"You've made that point very clear, Edward." I say. "Did it ever occur to you that I'm happy withyou? Did you ever think that I love your family as much as my own and I want to be a part of it?"

"How can you say that you love me? I'm a monster, Bella. I've taken human lives." He replies coldly.

"And how many times do I have to tell you that you are not a monster, Edward? I don't care about your past. I only want you in my future. I understand that you've killed people, but they weren't innocent. You saved more lives than you took. I can't fault you for that. Nor could I fault you for feeding like a normal vampire does. This is who you are and I love you." I state back.

He doesn't look like he believes me at all. Soon though, he will realize I would do anything for him. Including going behind his back so he doesn't feel that he 'killed' me. I would rather place that burden on someone I know that can handle it and someone I know who wants to.

"I'm tired of fighting with you, Edward." I say exhausted. "Come lay with me so I can sleep. I have a paper to write tomorrow for History and after Charlie gets home and I eat dinner, I will be at your place. We can continue this discussion then. Ok?"

"Fine." He says. "I'll be with Carlisle in Portland tomorrow during the day anyway. He's looking for a gift to get Esme. I'm not sure why he wants my opinion, but he seemed really insistent that I go and help him. I think that he doesn't want to be completely at fault if she doesn't like it."

I laugh a bit at the possibility that Esme won't like something Carlisle gets her as I curl up next to Edward on the bed. I wonder if Carlisle will actually end up getting Esme anything or if it's just a way to keep Edward busy tomorrow. Probably both, but I appreciate Carlisle's willingness to help none-the-less. Edward starts humming my lullaby for me and before I know it, I'm out like a light.

I wake up the next morning nervous and excited. Today is the day! Edward wasn't sitting beside me, but in his place was a shiny silver cell phone with a note on it. He must have left at some point during the night, but since he's headed to Portland it wouldn't surprise me that Carlisle would want to get an early start. I reach out and grab the note. All I see is one sentence in Edward's script:

Alice said you would need this today.

Great! She must be back from wherever she had been and she was apparently on board for this. Of course she would have seen it. I was starting to miss her cheery disposition recently. As I pick it up, I hear a telltale ding to let me know I have a message. It's from Jasper, which shouldn't surprise me. He was letting me know where on the 101 we would meet up to stage the crash. Now I have to play my part convincingly for Charlie, but not for too much longer.

I quickly get dressed in something comfortable and functional that I don't mind destroying. Jeans and an old sweater will do. Add some comfortable shoes and I'm all set. I head downstairs to see Charlie off to work and eat my final meal before I leave. I manage to make myself some bacon, eggs, and toast and manage to dig in quite a bit before Charlie comes downstairs in his uniform.

"Remember what I said, Bells." Charlie reminds me while heading for the door. "Be back before 5:00 this afternoon."

"I will be dad." I lie back.

"Alright, I'll see you this afternoon. Love you sweetheart." He replies.

"Love you too, dad." I say as I get up from the table to hug him goodbye for the last time.

I can't help but get choked up at the thought of never seeing my father again, but it's for his own good. I know what I have to do and no one is going to stop me. Not today. I finish my breakfast and wash and dry the dishes before putting them away. I grab my coat and my truck keys and start towards the front door. As I turn the handle to leave, I can't help but look back over my shoulder at the place I have called home. So many good memories have happened here and I will be sad to see it go. I heave a heavy sigh as I walk outside of the house and lock it for the last time.

I start up my truck and as I'm waiting for the cab to get nice and warm, I send Jasper a text to let him know I'm on my way. It wasn't too long before a reply came through that he was waiting at the general store for me. I'll admit that I was nervous and feeling a bit guilty at the secrecy, but excitement overrode all of that. It was about a 40 minute drive to my destination, so I turned on the radio to keep myself occupied. I was glad that there weren't many cars on the road this morning. That would make this disappearing act so much easier.

There was a general store at the beginning of the lake and a Lodge in the middle. The plan was simple, yet obvious to make something happen to my truck in between those locations. As I pulled into the parking lot of the general store, I noticed a movement in the trees. I pulled up and parked close to where I saw the movement and got out of the truck. It wasn't 3 seconds before I found myself squeezed to within an inch of my life by Emmett.

"Hey sis!" he said as he picked me up and swung me around.

"Hi Emmett!" I reply enthusiastically.

I could tell that Emmett was just as excited as I was about me joining the family and I couldn't help but laugh.

"So what's the plan, then?" I ask Emmett.

"Well, I'm going to drive your truck down an embankment!" he replies.

"Sounds like you'll be enjoying yourself." I chuckle. "Where's Jasper?"

"Right up here, Bella." He says as I look up.

"What are you doing in a tree?" I ask.

"I can see better from here." He says simply. "I can give Em the 'go-ahead' when I don't see any cars comin'. It's better not to have witnesses especially since he will be drivin' and looks absolutely nothin' like you."

"Fair enough." I reply.

"I am goin' to need some things from you though, Bella." Jasper says as he jumps down from the tree. "In order to make this believable, I will need to get blood from you so Emmett can pour it in the truck and along the windows. I will also need you to leave everythin' that could I.D you in the truck and I'm goin' to need scraps of your clothin' to hide amongst the wreckage. This way Charlie will "know" for certain that you were in the truck, obviously injured, and he will come to the conclusion that you drowned in the lake."

"Won't there be search parties that look for my body?" I ask.

"Probably," Emmett replies, "but even I can barely see in that lake. I know that if they hire any divers to go looking, they won't be able to find a thing."

"Sounds like you two have thought of pretty much everything." I say.

"Well, we've all had our fair share of hidin' our kills. This is the same concept, really. Just without the body." Jasper states.

"Ok. Let's get this show on the road." I say.

They both look at me with twin smirks and eyebrows raised until I realize what I've said, then I blush furiously and put my head in my hands in embarrassment.

"You know what I mean." I state embarrassed.

Jasper apologizes to me before ripping a corner of my shirt off and does the same with my jeans. Emmett holds out an empty water bottle and I turn away as I feel a sharp pain in the crease of my elbow. No doubt nicking a vein. I hold my breath so I don't pass out and after a minute or two I feel another piece of fabric pressing on the cut. The only thing I did notice after I bent my elbow back to add pressure to the wound was that their eyes got a few shades darker. That was all. No harm, no foul. I wasn't worried about either of them losing control and hurting me once my blood was spilled. They wouldn't and I wasn't quite sure how I knew that.

I watch from the safety of the trees as Emmett gets into my truck with my "items" and starts driving down the road. Jasper pulls out his cell phone and says something too quick for my ears to pick up and the next thing I see is my truck careening off of the road. I didn't get to stay and watch the "scene" that Emmett was going to set, but I wasn't worried. I knew he would make it believable.

Jasper didn't wait too long before throwing me over his back as he took off running. The only thing on my mind at the moment was the vast difference between being carried by Jasper and being carried by Edward. I couldn't help but notice that the way that Jasper ran. It was sheer power. He may not have been as fast as Edward, but that didn't matter when you had this much power in your muscles. Edward ran more quickly and more lightly and frankly, I enjoyed the way that Edward ran more. I didn't feel like a sack of potatoes, which was an unpleasantly accurate description of how I felt now.

When we finally made it back to the Cullen house…our house, now…Jasper ran all the way up to one of the guest bedrooms before setting me down. I'm sure I was a sight to behold in my ripped clothing with dried blood all over my arm and my hair in a mess from the run, but I didn't care at this point. Soon I would be changing. Soon I would be with my family forever. I couldn't help but be thrilled about that.

Jasper didn't wait with me in the guest room. I didn't think he would. I wasn't sure where he went, only that he was still in the house. He wouldn't leave me now. I laid back on the bed for a good half hour, with only my thoughts for company, before I heard a light knocking on the door. I don't know why Jasper or Emmett bothered to knock, they knew I was expecting them.

"Come in." I said. They walked in with determined looks on their faces. I knew that this wouldn't be easy for either of them, but while I was waiting, I had come up with an idea. I wasn't sure how they would react to it, but I was willing to find out.

"Hey guys." I said.

"Are you excited about joining the family officially, Bella?" asked Emmett.

"A bit, I'll admit that. However, I was thinking about something while we were waiting on you to get back." I say.

"Oh really? What might that be?" Asks Jasper.

"Well," I say nervously. "I wanted to thank you both for agreeing to do all of this for me. I honestly feel like a real member of the family already, but I felt kind of bad for not asking Emmett to change me, too."

"What do you mean, Bella?" asks Emmett.

"Well, I don't really know how this is done, but I wanted to know if it would be possible for you both to change me? I know it's an odd request, but you both have done more for me in the time that we've known each other than I could ever thank you for. You both are the big brothers that I never had and I want to thank you the only way I can right now." I confess.

They both look at each other, obviously having a silent conversation between them, and Emmett shrugs as Jasper says, "I don't see why we can't do that."

"Really?" I ask.

"Really, Bella." Says Emmett.

"Ok. What do we do now?" I ask them both.

"Jasper is the only one between the three of us who has tried and succeeded changing someone. So I will defer to his good judgment." Emmett says.

Jasper orders me to sit back on the bed, he'll take my right side and Emmett will take the left. They will proceed to bite me at my wrists, ankles, and the creases of my elbows. Jasper had originally wanted to bite my neck, but I felt that was too intimate, so the elbows it was. Jasper also explained that I would burn for approximately 3 days. The fire would consume me and only get hotter until the change was complete. I remember the bite from James and the fire I felt at the time. My entire body was going to feel worse than that and the realization made me nervous. I took a few deep breaths in and out to calm my nerves and I was ready to go.

"Ok. Let's do this." I said.

"See you in a few days, sis." Emmett says before biting on my left wrist.

At first I don't feel much, just a stinging sensation in my wrist, and another as Jasper bites me on the right wrist. Then they move to my elbows and finally my ankles. By this point I know what they mean. All I can feel is the fire. It just keeps getting hotter. I force my eyes closed, but all that does is let me see the flames. I grit my teeth to keep my jaw closed and hope to God that the next 3 days will be over soon.

All other thoughts stop as the fire consumes me and I embrace its pain gladly.

A/N: What did you think? Emmett just seems like he's left out so much, I wanted him to be involved, too. Now it can't just be Jasper who is to blame. What do you think Edward will do when he finds out his brothers changed his girlfriend? Who knows, that's the fun!

Reviews=Chapters!