Chapter 12 – Decisions

The whole family was in the living room. Alice informed them of my mother's decision. "I will be watching for Demetri. Right now, he's starting with France and England. Your father believes you wouldn't have gone far." I rolled my eyes, "Truly he does not know me." Alice sighed, "He believes that since you have been out in the world, you would start with something close by." Edward took my hand in his, "I still don't believe Demetri can successfully find you. At least, not the way he usually looks for people." "He is still going to try. He sees this as a real challenge. Even though he could not get a reading on Bella's mind, he is going to try to find her still. Like any other tracker." I sighed and closed my eyes. "Bella, again, you are not leaving," Alice said. I looked up at her. I couldn't speak; I was too mortified with myself. What have I done? "I say let him come," Emmett declared, "He's not going to take her." "Em, once he's found me...." "If he finds you," Edward interjected. I sighed, "if he finds me, the first thing Demetri will do is contact my parents. I wouldn't be surprised if they came themselves. My mother, to get her daughter and him, to get his prized possession." Carlisle came to sit by me, "Bella, not to say Aro was right to try and keep you, but trust me, he loves you. Yes, he coveted you ability, but as he nurtured you, he and Sulpicia came to truly love you. He told me that the greater part of his refusing to let you go is because it would be too painful for him to lose his daughter."

"It doesn't matter anymore. I'm never going back there. I'd rather die." Edward grimaced, he didn't like hearing me talk like that. Esme stood by Carlisle's side, "It won't come to that. None of us would allow it." A sudden sense of calm came over me. Jasper was trying to help; I smiled at him. In my sense of calm, I was able to think clearly. I wanted to get out of the house. I wanted to run, but not run away. Alice must have seen my decision, because Edward stood up, "I'm taking Bella out for a while." He smiled and took my hand. We went out to the garage, where he stopped and circled his arms around me. We didn't speak, we just stood together in each other's arms. I looked over the cars, which gave me an idea. "Edward? Jasper got me a driver's license, but I don't know how to drive. Could you teach me?" He pressed his lips top my forehead, "Of course." He reached behind me and took some keys out of the small cabinet. I saw the Jaguar logo on them. "Ummm, how about we take the Volvo? I don't want to mess up your Jaguar." He laughed once, "I trust you." I scowled, "I don't."

He got in the Volvo and pulled out of the garage. After turning the car around to face the long drive, he opened the driver's door and gestured for me to get in. We sat in the car and he explained everything about driving to me. I started the car and drove slowly out of the driveway. I pulled onto the freeway and drove to the school. It was after midnight. "You did very well," he chuckled darkly. "What?" I asked, "I was bad." He shook his head, "Once you feel more comfortable driving, you could drive faster." I scoffed. I did feel more confident as I pulled out of the school parking lot. As I turned, I switched off the lights and hit the gas. I was doing 80. I opened my window and my hair blew out. We made back to the mouth of the driveway in half the time it took me to get to the school. Edward kissed me, "Better." I smiled. "Do you want to go in the house?" he asked. I shook my head. "Ok. I have an idea on where we could go. But let's park the car." I drove into the garage, where we saw Rosalie and Emmett. She was under the hood of her BMW. "You made it back alive?" Emmett laughed. I got out of the car and punched him in the gut. He laughed, "You'll have to hit hard than that."

Edward came behind Emmett and put him in a headlock. Emmett and Edward staggered outside and began fighting. Rosalie peeked around the hood and shook her head; she didn't bother to look at me. Emmett pushed Edward away and looked at me, "A little help?" I laughed and walked towards him. I had him in a headlock and Edward took hit him in the torso, knocking the three of us down. Emmett pushed Edward off and began fighting me. He leaped away from me, "I don't fight girls." I jumped to my feet and motioned for him to come forward, "I do." Edward laughed loudly and Emmett charged me. I springboard off his shoulders and pulled him to the ground. He stopped himself and turned on me. I caught a quick glimpse of the entire family watching us, including Rosalie. Emmett charged me again and I did a roundhouse kick to his chest, knocking him back. I pirouetted on my foot and spun around. He staggered up and I smiled widely, "I did mention I took martial arts. 20 years ago from Japanese vampires. I studied for 15 years." I smiled slyly. "You said you never learned how to fight," he yelled. I giggled, "I didn't. I just learned how to defend myself." Again, he charged me and I flipped out of his way. Emmett and I fought for an hour. I finished him when I had him pinned to the side of the house with my foot in his throat. "ALRIGHT! You win," he yield. Jasper and Edward were laughing loudly. Emmett skulked into the garage, "Rematch after school." Alice leaped into the air and landed in front of me, "My turn." I laughed, "Why don't you just tell me who wins?" She scowled, "Bella." "$500 on the short one," Emmett called out. "Same," Jasper called out. He looked to Edward, who was smiling at me, "Fine and I raise you another $500 on Bella."

Emmett, Jasper and Edward all agreed, while Alice and I began. I controlled my decisions, allowing her to get some wins in. In the end, she conceded when she saw what I was doing. Jasper and Emmett scowled deeply as they gave Edward his money. "This is unbelievable. She's beaten the three of us," Jasper complained. I patted his back. "Next time, you're taking Rosalie," Emmett suggested. I smiled smugly, "Alright." Edward and I walked to the river's edge. I bounded over the river and he followed. We ran through the forest together. He stopped me and swept me up in his arms. Edward ran with me until we reached a small meadow. It was bathed in moonlight. He sat me down on the ground, "This is my favorite place. When we first came back from Volterra, I spent two days here, just thinking about you. There were even times; it felt like you were here with me. I didn't want to leave here, because to me, it was just me and you here." I sighed, "That's how I felt when you left. The gold dress I wore to the ball, I sealed up, just so it would hold your scent. Whenever I really missed you, I would just inhale your scent from the dress. I even drew several sketches of you." We looked into each other eyes.

"Edward, I have to ask, when did you realize you loved me?" He sighed, "Alice. She saw it. While we were at Volterra, I was considering staying. Alice had a vision. She saw that I was staying because I loved you. And, I had to make an effort to get to know you. Normally, I just hear people's thought and that's how I knew them. But with you, it's frustrating not hearing your mind. Your closed mind intrigued me and your personality surprised me. You were so different from what I expected; playful, sweet, strong-minded and stubborn. You reminded me of a combination of Alice and Rosalie, with a bit of Esme. You love immensely. When we arrived home, I didn't resume my normal life. I came here and saw you in the stars. That's when I realized I loved you. From Aro's memories, I saw his memory from the taste of your blood; its scent. If I had smelled it for myself, I would have killed you. But I knew I wouldn't want to hurt you. Bella, if you were human; your blood would have tempted me but your mind would have had the same effect as it does now. And your human eyes, I saw them through Aro's mind. Do you remember your eyes?" I shrugged, "I remember they were brown." He chuckled and brushed my hair, "Chocolate brown, with a depth to them that most humans don't have." He brushed under my eyes, "Even now, I could almost see into your mind. I can't be without you. Since I met you, it's like you hold me here, not myself."

He leaned closer to me, "When did you realize you loved me?" I smiled, "When you left, I was even more depressed. The tower felt more like a prison than before. It was holding me back from being with you. The outside world still called me, but the lure of looking for you was more tempting. So tempting, it hurt. When I was leaving, I was excited, but for more than one reason. When I called Alice and she told me to come here, I counted the minutes until I arrived. And then I saw you, I just wanted to stay with you. My feelings were so strong and when you told me you loved me, I was happy. Before I met you, I didn't allow myself to hope. Stop hoping about leaving Volterra. Even when I was with you, I tried to stop myself from hoping, but I couldn't. Edward, before I met you, I was a ghost. I existed, but not live. When I was with you, even in that place, I was living. I didn't want to go back to being the ghost. That's when my love for you began and I had to be with you. It just took for my mind to find the word that defined my feelings and 'love' isn't strong enough to define it."

Edward pressed his lips to mine and we laid back on the grass. He pulled back and looked at me, "Could you ever be without me?" I shook my head. "Because I cannot be without you." He kissed me again. While we kissed, he took my left hand and intertwined our fingers. I felt him slip a ring on my third finger. I opened my eyes and broke the kiss. On my finger was a white gold ring with a pear shaped diamond. I looked at him, we didn't need to speak. I nodded and smiled widely. We kissed, wrapping our arms around each other.

It was time to get to school. When we were leaving, Esme saw my ring. She hugged me and Edward. "Don't worry, Bella. I will plan everything." Edward let me drive to school. I raced Jasper and he won. "Finally, she lost something," Emmett bellowed. For three days, Alice hadn't seen anything new from Demetri or my face. She saw my mother was distraught. She remained in my room. I was happy that I had the foresight to delete the history from my computer. They would get no information from there. At lunch, Alice was offering wedding ideas and who to invite. "We have to invite our cousins, Tanya, Kate and Irina." "You know Kate and her family?" Alice took in my nervous expression. "Yes, they live in Denali." I shuddered, "Does Carmen and Eleazar still live with them?" Edward put his arms over my shoulders, "They do." I closed my eyes and gasped, "You know they were apart of the Guard?" Alice gasped and Edward hugged me closer to him. "Edward, if they find out I'm here, they'll tell Aro." All the Cullens exchanged a glance. Alice smiled, "Well, maybe we could...." Her face went blank. Edward gasped, "Demetri is coming to the US. He spoke with Aro when he couldn't find you. Your mother recommended him coming to the country you came from." I closed my eyes in shock. Demetri is getting closer. He'll find me.