Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, I merely play in the sandbox. I do lay claim to my original character and the inclusion/development of the Fey world included.

AN: Have now finished Book 3, will update last chapter probably next week (so I have time to write further chapters) ~Hannah

Chapter Fifty-Nine – Cliché

"You're such a cliché," said Emmett.

"How am I a cliché?"

"Look at you, you couldn't be more cliché if you tried."

"Still not getting it."

"Ella, you make friends with people you shouldn't, Lauren, Jane, Alec, I mean most people would walk away."

"That doesn't make me a cliché, it just means I'm more open to change than other people."

"Nope, admit it, you're a walking cliché."

"Emmett!"

"Ella!"

"You're impossible. I'm about as far away from a cliché as possible. You're just jealous that I make friends quicker than you."

"Maybe I don't want to make friends, ever think of that? Don't derail us from the truth, you are cliché and the sooner you realise it the better."

"If you keep harping on about me being cliché you're going to be in deep trouble."

"How? What's a puny human going to do about it?"

"Me? No. I can't do anything but Rose can…"

Seeing the panic in his eyes gave me the knowledge that I'd won. Emmett could tease me till the sun went down but one mention of what Rose could do to him, made him quieter than a scared mouse.

Maybe I was cliché for making friends with people who I shouldn't have but I couldn't stop that need to be friendly to those around me. I understood his teasing, I suppose my traits were alike to most teenage films, you know the ones were the misfit becomes friends with their enemies. I wasn't trying to fill every cliché in the handbook, I couldn't care less about Emmett's taunts. I'd formed those friendships because I wanted to, nothing more and nothing less.

Lauren, I suppose was the most surprising friendship of my senior year. If you had told me when I moved to Forks that I'd have been her friend, I would have argued with you about insanity. Lauren and I then, couldn't be further from each other's personalities but with time comes knowledge and we'd both learnt we were more similar than first thought. The Lauren I knew now was fiercely protective of her friend's, had a sharp wit to match her tongue and had fallen for the most unlikely candidate. She was a far cry from the bully I'd first encountered.

I didn't think I could even use the term bully anymore, Lauren had been unpleasant but now I knew her past, I wondered about how strong she really was and how much further she could have fallen.

I'd been in a unique position once I'd returned from the in-between and had got back on my feet, my opinion about much in life had changed. When Lauren came around with her apology and her basket of goodies, I would have been an unpleasant human if I had turned her away. Giving people a second chance when it was justified was what I was all about, I just didn't give those second chances to people I knew couldn't be trusted.

Emmett may call me a cliché but I'd rather look at it as expanding my social opportunities. I'd gained much from being friends with Lauren, Jane and Alec and no amount of teasing would get me to drop them.

"You know, you have the cutest frown upon your face when you get lost in deep thought."

"Huh? Oh, sorry Jane, I didn't see you there, how long have you been standing there?"

"I was just saying how lost you get when you're deep in thought."

"Sorry, I was just thinking of what Emmett said to me."

"Do I need to teach him a lesson?"

"No, nothing like that. He said I was cliché because of the friend's I make."

"He means Alec and I…"

"And Lauren."

"Oh."

"It's not something to feel down about Jane, I value our friendship more than Emmett's teasing. I make friends for life and now I've found you, I'm not likely to let you go."

"I do not find making friends easy…vampires are intimidated by me and I have not looked upon a human favourably since before I was turned."

"Jane, I'm not going anywhere. We're friends and that means I'll stay by your side. I might not always agree with you but I would never leave you high and dry."

"I do not think you know how much this means to Alec and I. We have a reputation to uphold and try to be nothing less than perfect but that attitude comes with a price. It is not usual for us to find happiness and be given the love and kindness that is afforded to everyone else. We have been alone for so long, even with the Volturi we are alone because of the fear our gifts create. It is refreshing to have finally found someone willing to stand by our sides."

"I cannot help you deal with your past problem Jane but I can be here for any future problems you have."

"You're a good person you know."

"I try to be but I am only human and we all make mistakes."

"Even me, on occasion."

"I'm surprised you can admit to that."

"I'm full of surprises."

"All the best people are."

"So, I was wondering, well, I wanted to ask you a question actually."

"You're nervous, why are you nervous Jane?"

"I know not everyone has the best opinion of the Volturi and our ways of ruling but I wondered if you might visit Volterra one day and come see where Alec and I live."

"Visit Italy? I would love to."

"You are not scared of going?"

"Why should I be, neither you or Alec, Felix or Demetri have been unkind or unpleasant during this visit. None of you have given me reason to doubt you as people."

"There are a lot of people who would not share your view of us."

"Look, I get that the Volturi are the big bad rulers to many within the Vampire community but you cannot have a society without rules, it would be chaos. Sometimes you must be firm to get a point across. Do I agree with the killing of innocent humans, no but if you did not eat would there not be more obvious massacres? I will not fear you unless you give me a reason to. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and this is mine."

"I would hate for you to change your mind but I suppose it is inevitable. I suppose I just hope that we don't lose our friendship when that time comes."

"Jane, I will always try and approach things with an open mind. If something bothers me, I will come and talk to you about it so we can work out a positive ending for all parties involved."

"I feel like you're counselling me."

"I feel like I'm counselling you too."

"I better go."

"Got somewhere to be have you?"

"Yes, well no but Alec wanted to talk to you and I can hear him coming."

"What am I? Counsellor to the vampires now?!"

"Good one. You know we appreciate you. Alec just, he has the same vulnerabilities that I have. For so long it was just the two of us. If you think I'm emotionally unstable, wait till you hear Alec moan."

I did feel a little bit like I was stuck in the body of an agony aunt. I had thought to waste the day away staying chilled and not thinking too hard and I had gone from Emmett's teasing, to my own deep thinking, to counselling Jane and now getting the pleasure of listening to Alec moan.

"Please don't tell me you've come to moan at me Alec?"

"What? No, I just came for a chat. Why would you think I'd come for a moan?"

"Jane might have mentioned something…"

"I'm going to kill her."

"You'll do no such thing."

"Alright Mum."

I glared at him, knowing he was purposefully trying to get a rise out of me.

"What did you want to talk about? Is everything alright with Lauren?"

"Everything is fine, spectacular even, though I am worried for when Jane and I must return to Volterra, what will happen to Lauren."

"I'm sure things will work out."

"Perhaps but Lauren wasn't what I wanted to talk to you about."

"No?"

"I may have overheard a little of your conversation with Jane but I wanted to tell you what a remarkable person you were."

"Excuse me?"

"Emmett thinks you are cliché, while I think you're a force of strength I could only dream of."

"What is this? Motivate each other day?"

"I'm being serious. You don't realise how unique you are Ella. It's true, as vampires we spend much of our time looking down at humans – or drinking from them – but you show us how remarkable they can be."

"I'm really not that remarkable."

"You are. How many people can go through what you have and still ground themselves?"

"Lots of people."

"You're thinking of people in films, which while some might be based on fact, are usually figments of imagination. You didn't have to become the person you are now, you chose to be. How many people do you know who have gone through something traumatic and come out bitter and twisted? Yet here you stand, still as kind and open as ever. You offered Jane and I friendship without batting an eyelid. You offered Lauren a second chance when you hadn't seen eye to eye before. We are all sitting here wondering what Laurent's plan is while you are wondering what bad ordeal from his past set him on this track. You are so good it almost kills me."

"But I'm not good not really. You'd put me on a pedestal based on the actions you've seen but I can be just as angry, just as bitter and mad and unkind as the next person. I am sassy and I'm childish. I can be sad and hysterical. I can laugh as much as I can cry. I am not the remarkable person you claim me to be, I am simply human and I try the best I can to survive the world I live in."

"And that's what makes you remarkable, the fact that you don't see your own value. Look, I'm not trying to make you feel uncomfortable, I just want you to know your worth."

"So, you don't think I'm a cliché."

"No, I think you are Ella, a completely unique person we could all learn a lot from."

"You think we could use that spiel to convince Laurent to stop whatever he's going?"

Alec laughed, a deeper laugh than his face would suggest possible. He laughed like a middle-aged man and yet he looked like a child about to hit puberty.

"I think it would be a hard sell but if anyone could persuade him to switch sides, it would be you."

"I'm worried Alec."

"About Laurent?"

"I don't like knowing what we're up against. We thought we were prepared last time and we were all played. I don't want anyone to be caught unawares this time."

"There is always room for uncertainties and unexpected occurrences but I can't help but feel a little bit confident. With the amount of people that stand behind you Ella, I think we are better prepared than you were last time."

"I hope you are right, I don't want anyone to suffer."

"Does it count if someone suffers under my gift? Or Jane's?"

"If you dare hurt someone I care about I will rip off your arm and feed it to you."

"Knew there was some fighting spirit still in you. I'm not going to hurt anyone you care about but if the suffering party in on the other side of us, they're fair game right."

"Absolutely, and Alec, I give you permission to crush them!"