Chapter 26
When La Push Comes to La Shove
Part 1

Bella's POV

March 11th, 2003

I slammed my door shut as multiple emotions swirled through me like a raging hurricane. My hands shook violently as I attempted to prevent my magic from bursting out of me. I was angry. No, I was furious.

How could they?

I had never trusted people—always believing them fickle. But I'd thought my sisters were the exception to people. I believed they could be trusted without question.

It's all those damned Cullens fault. Idropped to my knees to yank at the loose floorboard under my bed. Before them, my sisters would never have lied to me! Never schemed behind my back! Never betrayed me like this.

Blindly I reached for one of the multiple bottles of alcohol I had stashed there in case of emergencies. I didn't drink often—it fucked with my magic far too much—but today it was more than necessary.

Desperate to be numb to the world, I uncorked the top and took a swig, utterly uncaring of what the drink was.

Vodka, my brain supplied helpfully after a few swigs.

But before I could drown my problems by drinking myself into liver failure I heard the front door open and close, and my heart broke all over again.

No. My chest ached and I couldn't breathe. They wouldn't.

They were. One look out my window confirmed it. My sister—just Alice—was rushing into the forest after her little boy-toy. I knew Rosalie couldn't be far behind. A lump formed in my throat as I gritted my teeth against the tears threatening to fall.

"Well at least I know where you stand," I choked out.

My words were absorbed by the stark silence of the house. It was a sound I should have gotten used to by now. Really I should have seen this coming. They had made their choice abundantly clear weeks ago.

I had always thought that if it came down to a choice between us and other people, my sisters would always choose me, us, over everyone else. Us against the world. But apparently I was wrong. Given the choice between me and the boys, they chose the boys. They always chose the boys.

"You know, I'd always known birds were supposed to leave the nest," I snorted hysterically before a sob wrenched itself out my throat as I felt my little birds fly away. "I just didn't know they'd stab you in the back and tear your heart out on their way out the door!" I yelled into the empty room.

As if a switch had been flipped I suddenly knew, with absolute certainty, I couldn't stay here. Not in this house of betrayal. Going to take another swig from the bottle, I blinked at it in surprise when not even a drop came out. When did I drink it all?

I shook my head as I threw the now empty bottle on my bed. That doesn't matter. I'll just grab more. I grabbed another two bottles from under my bed and charmed them to stay full. Now if I finished a bottle, its contents would be replaced with one of the dozens of other bottles I had stashed around the house. A month's supply at the very least.

I'll have to buy more tomorrow.

I moved to my dresser as I uncorked the new bottle and took a swig before I set it down and began opening all my drawers. Summoning a duffle bag from my closet I used a quick and easy spell to make it pack itself. As random clothes began flying into the bag, I added my second bottle—tequila this time—to the bag and went back to my drinking. I smiled in satisfaction as I emptied yet another bottle and watched as this one refilled itself.

Oh yes—that's going to make this so much better.

I was beginning to feel a buzz, but that wasn't enough. For the first time I cursed our fast metabolism. It took quite a few bottles of spirits to get a witch drunk. The good thing was—once we were good and smashed something in our magic clung to the alcohol causing it to stay in our system for much longer than humans.

Of course, the bad thing meant our magic was entirely unpredictable and uncontrollable for at least two days following that. But that was tomorrow's problem. Right now I just needed to get out.

Finally my duffle bag zipped itself shut, stuffed to the absolute brim. I looked at my door and hesitated. I didn't want to go out there. If I did—if I walked through the empty living room where I'd just learned of my sister's deception—I would have to think about it. I would have to remember those awful words that destroyed a dynasty I'd believed was unbreakable.

I shook my head and emptied another bottle, pushing those thoughts away. That was when I caught sight of the window. Perfect.

I rushed over to it, only slightly unsteady on my feet and threw it open. Closing the bottle so it wouldn't spill, I took the neck between my teeth and swung my feet out the window. Reaching out with my hands I grasped a thick branch from the tree and jumped.

A human would never have made the gap—they would have fallen and broken something fragile—but I was better than that. Plus, a vine slipped around my waist before the alcohol could make me slip, and another took the bottle from my mouth.

"Thanks," I said, patting the vine and hopping down to a lower branch.

I repeated the process twice before I made it to the ground. Holding out my hand the vine placed my bottle in it before they both retreated back to their spots on the tree. I quickly uncorked the bottle and chugged the newly refilled contents. I swayed slightly as my system registered the increase of alcohol before I took off—albeit a tad unsteadily—towards the treeline.

I didn't know where I was going to go. I just had to get away. Somewhere I wouldn't have to see those damned Cullens again. I spat as just the thought of them left a foul taste in my mouth. As if the damned pastor hadn't ruined my life enough, now his adopted spawn had to steal the only lights left in my life too.

I knocked back half the bottle with my next swig as I stumbled into the treeline. Immediately vines came down and formed something that resembled a swing with a back. I blinked at it for a moment before plopping myself into the seat. "How—hic—thoughtful of you."

The vines began to move and I brought up my legs to get comfortable in the seat as I absently sipped from the bottle like a baby. Perhaps if I drank enough I could forget for a time that my sisters had abandoned me for dick.

I shoved those thoughts away and turned my full attention to draining bottle after bottle, until I hardly noticed when the bottle began refilling. I paid no heed to wherever the vines were taking me. I didn't care. As long as it was somewhere I could keep drinking and forget about everything.

As I was carried through the forest my mind wandered back to simpler times when my sisters and I were growing up. I still remembered the day they swore never to lie to me, the day after I had broken it off with that bitch.

~Flashback~

I had been doing inventory for Mrs. Lucas—the Milliner's wife—who was abed with a cold when I heard the door in the front of the shop nearly bang open. I knew it had to be her, she was the only one careless enough to open Mr. Lucas's door that way.

Everyone in the town knew the hinges needed replacing, but like everyone else, the Lucases could not afford the expense of buying new hinges as well as hiring someone to reinstall the door since Mr. Lucas was advancing too far in age to do it himself.

Anyone who entered the shop took care to be gentle with the door, anyone save for her.

"Miss Eliza! How good of you to come to my shop. How may I be of assistance?" Mr. Lucas asked, cheerful as ever.

"Oh, I've just come to buy a new cloak and some gloves for the trip back to London. Dear aunt Prudence has thankfully recovered and Father has decided that we are all to be back in London before Michaelmas." There was a cheerful note in her voice that I truly believed. She always had hated our town. "Plus, Mother believed we ought to leave at once considering how dreadfully deceived I was by one I considered to be a dear friend," she sighed sadly.

That sigh was much too loud and 'uncouth' for one such as she to have not done it on purpose. My jaw clenched at it and her words. She no doubt knew I was here and had come not only to spread vitriol about me, but to do it where I could not stop her.

There was some curiosity in Mr. Lucas' voice when he replied, "I have just the set for such a journey. If you do not mind my asking, who was it that deceived you so?"

"Miss McKinnon," came the swift reply. "The eldest."

I felt my blood boil and I fought to keep from revealing my hidden position.

'That bitch! As if my family's reputation is not blackened enough; she dares to try and slander my name with more of her lies? Daughter of a Baronet she may be but there is certainly nothing honourable about that wench!' I thought viciously.

In that moment there was nothing I wished for more than to see her stoned to death.

If her slander would only affect myself I would not care half so much for her lies, however such accusations would hurt my sisters as well. As if our mother being an outcast had not already materially lessened the chances of my sisters making a good life for themselves.

The sound of Mr. Lucas's sharp intake of breath made me refocus on the conversation as I dutifully sorted fabrics, hats, cloaks, and petticoats. This was not my first time doing inventory for the Lucas family and I had devised a system of sorting items by not only their type, but colour, size and material. Next to me was a journal where my quill was writing out the item, general condition and placement on the shelves itself.

Of course, I knew I should not be using magic; however, I was hidden between stacks of items and always kept an ear out in case Mr. Lucas approached.

"—omplete balderdash! Esmerelda is a fine young woman who has been dealt a bad hand in life, yet she is doing her best to ensure her sisters do not suffer for it! She is not some moraless woman as you seem to be insinuating!" Mr. Lucas said fiercely.

The stout defence made me smile. Mr. Lucas was a good man—and a wise one at that to see past Eliza's lies.

"How fortunate Miss McKinnon is to have you as her defender. However perhaps you should think twice before defending a woman who lets a cow herd under her skirts. Then again, perhaps you knew that and have done a bit of grazing yourself," Eliza shot back.

"Out! Get out of my shop!" the good man seethed. "How dare you say such a thing! Your money is no good here. Leave my shop and never return!"

"Gladly!" A moment later the door was slammed shut.

Seeing as how I would not have been able to hear the conversation had I been a human I went about my task as usual. And if I bid Mr. Lucas farewell a bit more warmly than was my usual want, he did not mention it.

When I got home Evangeline was attempting to braid flowers into Catherine's hair, only for the flowers to keep falling out of the braid. I watched in amusement as Eva began to huff in frustration, I giggled and went over to assist them.

"Sweetling, you are doing the braids too loose. Make them a bit tighter, and place the flowers face up," I instructed.

Eva redid the braids immediately. "Like this, Eldy?" she asked.

I inspected the braid and made some small placement adjustments to the flowers."There, that is lovely."

"Eldy, you will not believe the news I have heard!" Cathy said the moment her hair was free. "Grace Lancaster has taken her father's small stash of chocolates—the ones his cousin sends from London—and then lied about it, even though the evidence was there on her gown for all to see! I know she is only but a year younger than I, but how could she think such a falsehood would be believed? Especially as she had not changed her gown?"

I laughed lightly. "My spec of gold, you may not repeat this to anyone, however for all her fine qualities Grace Lancaster could never be considered a wit. She has been blessed with good humour and beauty in equal measure, however she does not have much by way of intelligence. 'Tis a good thing she has an arrangement with the Jameson boy—their parents are great friends, you know—he has a good head on his shoulders."

"She is very fortunate then, and more blessed than most," Eva said evenly.

Cathy and I nodded. However, as I thought about those little lies children often tell, as well as the malicious lies of the black hearted, I could not help but speak again.

"On the subject of falsehoods, I want you both to swear never to lie to me and to always trust me with the truth," I said seriously, sitting down to braid Eva's hair.

After all, the she-demon had lied to me many times, luckily my faith in my sisters had never wavered. And I never believed a word out her mouth.

They both looked at me, all humour suddenly gone. "We swear, Eldy," they chorused.

I smiled happily. "Good, now for a special treat. Poor Mr. Welsberry's goat had a deformed lamb yesterday. The little thing was quite fat but had a second head! The apothecary believes that two of the lambs accidentally became one in the mother womb. Though of course pastor Cullen believes the thing is a sign that there are devils among us."

My sisters snickered at the foolish idea and were near bouncing in their seats in excitement. I leaned in close as if revealing a great secret. "So, how would you girls like to come with me to the butchers to get some and we can have lamb soup for dinner, hmm?"

Their reactions were immediate. Both girls jumped up—flower-filled hair and all—before running to get their cloaks.

~Flashback End~

Eventually the vines set me down on a beach. I blinked, trying to recall what beaches were nearby before I realised I didn't care. I stumbled onto the sand and took another swig of my drink looking around at the thankfully empty beach though it seemed to be getting dark, so maybe that was the reason?

I'm gonna go for a walk! I decided. That'll help!

I set off down the beach and immediately tripped over a log.

"Who left that there?" I clucked my tongue and stumbled back to my feet. "Inconsiderate humans…"

Luckily I hadn't spilled any alcohol though, so I supposed I could forgive the perpetrator. I took another swig and set off, this time avoiding stupid logs.

After a dozen or two swigs of alcohol, I saw a group of boys playing volleyball a little distance off. They looked to be around fourteen, but there was one among them who looked much older and like he'd been pumped full of steroids.

Well that's not fair on the non-steroid ones, I thought. He should share his muscle drugs…

I squinted at the muscle-drug boy as something about him seemed familiar, but when I did that everything went blurry and I had to sit down on a log someone had so considerately left for me. I waited for the world to stop being blurry and narrowed my eyes again. Do I know that steroid boy?

Eventually I blinked and realised it was the pup from when I'd confronted the silly dogs. I hiccupped and the pup looked up. I was a fair distance off, so a silly human would have never heard me, but apparently the pup hadn't gotten that message.

I should tell him to be more subtle. I stood up without falling over again and walked closer to the group.

The pup looked at me warily "Bella? What are you doing here?" he asked, clearly confused.

I sniffed and held up the bottle. "Finding a place to drink in piece….stupid Cullens and their stupid faces. They can't come here so here I am." I said airily, I was pretty sure I hadn't slurred my words too much.

The pup sniffed and wrinkled his nose. "Are you drunk?" he asked incredulously.

I pouted and looked at my bottle mournfully. "Not nearly as I'd like to be, I can still remember…" I sniffed and took another swig of whatever alcohol I was drinking.

Seth frowned and looked at me with concern. "Come with me Bella, I'll take you to Billy's," he said, reaching for me.

I jerked myself back. "No!" I growled petulantly.

Seth's eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"

I sniffed. "He'll take my Vodka!" I squinted at my bottle. "At least I think it's vodka…might be gin…"

Seth sighed. "No one's going to take your alcohol, Bella."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't belieeeve you! You're lying. Everybody lies to me, even my sisters …I need more alcohol.''

The puppy hesitated. "Is everything alright, Bella? Has something happened?"

I sniffed and looked at his friends who were still a few feet away in the sand. "Oh, yeah, everything's just perfect; I only fell for a Cullen who broke my heart, 'cause I'm an idiot, then found out my mother was a sadistic bitch who betrayed me. And then I find out my sisters—the only people I thought I could trust—betrayed me as well, and it's all the fucking Cullens faults and now I'm alone with only one human friend and… and I need to drink more." I took another swig of the mystery liquid.

What was I saying?

I didn't see the puppy move until he was lifting me in his arms. I shrieked, waving my arms at him while keeping my alcohol out of his reach. "You can't have it!"

"I need help," he muttered, squinting uncomfortably down at me.

"You will if you touch my alcohol!" I pushed his puppy face away from me and he just started heading towards the forest. And with every step I wanted to hurl. "Oh gods. Don't move so much, I'm going to puke and I wanna keep all the stuff I drank."

"I'm taking you to Billy. He'll call—"

"NO! He'll take my alcohol! It's mine! He can't have any!" I brought my fist down on his shoulder before going for his face.

He grunted when I shoved my hand in his face, pushing him away. But with his annoying steroid puppy muscles, I couldn't dislodge myself from his grip. "Bella, stop! I'll take you to Billy and he'll call the Chief. Then you can go home and your dad'll keep you safe."

"No! They'll take my alcohol! I refuse! Put me down." I paused, nausea swirling through me. "On second thought, don't. I'm going to puke on you for trying to take my alcohol away…"

Even if I didn't want to waste any, it would be for a good cause, and then I can say I used projectile vomiting in self defence…or is that alcohol defence? Could I put it on my resume? I'm going to be an animal keeper of exotic zoos. I frowned. No. That's not right. What is it? An exotic animal of keeper zoos? A z—

"If you puke on me," Seth interrupted my serious thoughts, "I won't give you anymore to drink," he warned, making me pause.

"What kind of drink?" I said, eyeing him speculatively. If he was offering me more alcohol maybe he wouldn't let Billy take mine…unless this was a trap.

If he says craft beer then I'll know he's lying—nobody really drinks that swill. It's a front beer for people who don't drink. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

"...tequila."

My ears perked up in interest. "Well, I guess I won't puke on you—for now—then. But only cause you're offering alcohol."

Tequila should help me get properly sloshed and make me forget everything.

He was silent for a long moment before Seth murmured, "What's upset you this much?"

I downed the rest of my bottle. "Oh nothing much. Just the end of everything. My sisters are lying, betraying meanies, my mother was a bitch, and the guy I was stupidly—"

Nope! Not saying that!

I shook my head. "I am all alone, puppy, and I always will be! So why not drown my sorrows?"

The puppy looked crestfallen and horrified all at once.

"It'll make me forget, right?" My eyes burned with tears and I couldn't find the energy to hold them back. "I just want to forget everything, just for a little bit."

"Oh God, Bella, don't cry." The puppy's arms shifted around me and his frantic face appeared in my blurry field of vision. "Please don't cry. If you cry, then I'm gonna cry, and Paul says he'll hit me if I cry again this week." He pulled me in closer to him and his eyes really were filling with tears.

The action felt so much like a hug that something in me broke. I threw my arms around Seth's neck and fell apart. Huge ugly sobs racked my body as everything I'd pushed back for so long came rushing through me.

I was all alone. Everyone would leave me. They always did. I knew that. I'd just been stupid enough to think my sisters were exceptions to that rule.

Suddenly he was setting me down on a couch that smelled like a wet dog. I scrunched up my nose. Didn't they know not to let puppies on the couch?

"Ew, who has a dog? You shouldn't be letting it on the couch, then it will become spoiled and manipulate you with puppy eyes until you're giving it all your bacon—and you look like you like bacon." I said seriously.

"Of course he loves bacon."

I craned my neck back to see another overgrown dog glaring at me with his arms crossed. I screwed up my nose even more. "I don't like you."

Jacob raised his eyebrow. "That breaks my heart. What are you doing on my couch?"

"She's drunk," the puppy said helpfully.

"I can smell that. Still doesn't explain what she's doing on my couch."

"Hmmm don't really know." I settled deeper into the couch cushions. "I think i was on the beach before, but then the puppy found me and now i'm here." I threw my arms above my head in a 'ta-da' motion.

Jacob scowled at me. "And now you can leave."

The puppy shuffled on his feet. "Jacob…"

But the dog glared at him. "No. I'm not having a witch in my house. Particularly not this one. Get her out. Or better yet, I'll call Charlie to pick her up."

I latched onto his wrist as he walked past. "No you won't."

His eyes flattened and a growl curled in his chest. "And how exactly are you going to stop me?" Jacob shook off my hand. "You can't even stand straight."

Glaring at him, I concentrated really really hard. Jacob rolled his eyes when nothing, but suddenly leapt into the air with a yelp. He reached into his pocket and tossed his phone as far from him as he could. It was on fire.

As was every other phone in the house.

I grinned up at Jacob. "Now you can't call anyone."

He snarled and gestured at one of the wolves that was peeking through the kitchen doorway. "Logan. Go tell my dad to call Charlie to collect his drunk daughter."

The puppy was out the door before I could throw anything at him—magical or physical—and I pouted up at the offending dog. "Asshole."

He flashed me a fake smile. "Now you can wait outside with the rest of the trash."

I brought my knees up to my chest, and finished off another bottle. "But, if he comes he'll take away my alcohol! And I haven't even told you the worst part of…well everything!" I slumped back into the couch cushions, the fight leaving me in a rush. I just wanted to close my eyes and have everything disappear. "I almost wish we'd never come here, you know? It's bad enough Cullen killed us in our first life, now his family has been instrumental in tearing mine apart, I should have cursed him to die rather than become a vampire… then none of this would have happened."

Some of the anger in his face dropped away, replaced by a confusion that left him frozen in place. Before he could say anything though, a new voice entered the room. "You can't throw her out now, Jacob! That's just mean! What kind of men would we be to kick out a poor crying girl."

I glanced over the puppy's shoulder to see the annoying dog enter. Peter? Parker? I squinted at him. I know it starts with P! Only he wasn't being annoying now so I'd forgive him for showing his ugly face when I was in a bad mood.

Jacob scowled at him. "Since when do you care about being nice, Paul?"

Paul! That's it!

"Oh, Paul is right. You have to let me stay because I'm pathetic right now." I sniffed. "And don't you guys have a soft spot for pathetic things? Like humans?"

Paul crouched beside me, patting my head. The slight grin and delighted look on his face wasn't fooling anyone. "We do like pathetic things. Particularly pathetic things with gossip about our enemies."

"Oooh, and I get to complain about the Cullens too?" I asked, my eyes widening.

I knew he was just fishing for information, but I needed to vent, and I didn't particularly care if I was giving up their sensitive information. A week ago, I would have told them I was above the whole 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' thing. But now? Now the Cullens could go suck a cactus.

He nodded emphatically, still patting my head. "Of course! And your good buddy Paul is here to listen to everything you say."

"Well. I've never liked the Cullens. My sisters certainly didn't in our first life, either but—"

"Enough," Jacob growled, rudely interrupting us. "She's not—"

One of the gawking other wolves pushed past him to perch on the arm rest by my feet. "First life? You mean you've been alive before this?"

I nodded. "We—my sisters and I—were originally born in the 1600's." I smiled a little watching their jaws drop. "Our names were Esmerelda, Evangeline and Catherine Mckinnon, we came from a very long line of witches. Our father always wanted a boy and left the day Rose was born. None of us had dicks so I suppose he decided to cut his losses." I shrugged. "I can assume you know how society treated my family after that, that is until we were twelve and our mother died, that's when things got really hard…"

~Scene~

"—and then he burned us to death! Everything I had ever built for us was gone in one night. All because one overachieving son of a pastor wanted to ensure we were caught!"

"That bastard!" one of the wolves cried, furious.

"Past-ard," I corrected and Paul grinned.

By now, what seemed like the entire pack was crouched or sitting near me, listening attentively to everything I had to say.

"In the end we made it, but I didn't know if the spell was going to work or not." I shook my head, my eyes wide as I lost myself in the story-telling. "I was a long shot. My sisters don't even know how close we came to dying. There wasn't even enough time to explain beforehand. Then we woke up in this life when we were seven and we were stuck with Renee…"

"I'm sorry. I'm confused," Embry broke in, snarling. "You risked everything for them, and yet they still can't see how shit they treat you?"

My face contorted and I took another long swig. "And why should they? I've always been there for them and made sure their lives were as smooth as possible."

Jacob crossed his arms. "Not to play devil's advocate, but you three have been pretty isolated all your lives—maybe they just think it's normal? Do they even know any different? What if they think this is how all sisters act?"

About five minutes into my explanation, he'd reluctantly sat down. He acted like he was sitting there just to keep an eye on me, but he was leaning forward just as much as the other puppies were.

"No." Paul pointed at him. "That's bullshit. If that were true, they'd all be ridiculously dependent on each other, instead of just on Bella!"

I shrugged. "Rosie was seven when I started caring for them, Alice was ten. I'm sure Rose doesn't. Fuck, I still have trouble getting her not to call me Mum—"

"That's fucked up," one of the younger wolves breathed.

I snorted. Oh, you have no idea.

"Of course, I haven't even got to the bit where my own mother cursed me to forever take care of Ali and Rosie… now that's something worth drinking over." I hiccuped. I was starting to sober just a bit, but not that much. I wasn't slurring anymore but my filter didn't exist.

At that thought, I skulled another bottle and watched my magic automatically fill it up.

"Excuse me?!"

"What the fuck?"

"You can't be serious!"

"That's seriously fucking messed up!"

Seth looked caught between crying and throwing something. "How could your mother do that to you?! "

"Yep, I don't even know why I'm so surprised. Looking back it was obvious that she only cared about magical prowess and affinities. I didn't have an affinity then, and it never occurred to her that the family burden would fall on me…" I sighed, tipping my head back. "As for how; that's easy. I was magically powerful but had no obvious affinity so I suppose I was expendable," I added bitterly

The wolves exploded in a second chorus of "what the fuck"s and as they did, I glanced up to see Sam watching me with a calculating look in his eyes.

When the fuck did he get here? I could have sworn he hadn't been there before—had I just not seen him come in? Or did the puppies have teleporting abilities too?

"Hey, I thought appearing out of nowhere was my thing?" I pouted. Of course I wasn't going to let them know I genuinely hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings, that was just bad tactics, and I might be drunk, but I wasn't that drunk. At least I didn't think I was… how drunk was I actually?

Sam didn't say anything for a long moment, and when the puppies realised where I was looking, they all spun around to stare at him too.

Right when I expected him to start trying to throw me out, he asked, "Why was she so obsessed with you having an affinity?"

I blinked—really not expecting him to join in on story time—before I shrugged. "Well in our day affinities were important to a lot of families, being a kind of jack of all trades was fine enough for a teacher, but not really a praise worthy. In my mother's mind, you weren't a proper witch unless you had one." I sneered, tipping back another mouthful of alcohol. "And she thought I didn't have one. Of course, it never occurred to her that I might share hers."

I looked back at the grumpy dog and frowned—why was he purple?

After a minute I realised he wasn't purple, but that I was wearing my purple tinted sunglasses, a pair I swore I had left in the house, had I accidentally summoned them?

"Where did these come from?" I demanded, ripping them off my face

Seth frowned. "You were wearing them when I found you on the beach. You've had them on this whole time."

I blinked. "Really? Hmm must have forgotten, no wonder you were purple…" I squinted at them. "You know, they remind me of grape juice." I scrunched up my nose. "I hate grape juice, it's too sweet and it wouldn't turn into wine when I wanted it to."

Paul slurped loudly from where he sat at the end of the couch with my feet in his lap. He was drinking grape juice. He grinned, offering me some.

I pouted fiercely. "How rude. Apple juice is better, it listens when I make it into wine. "

He poked his tongue out. "You really are showing your age there, Smelly Belly. Who even likes wine?"

I sniffed haughtily. "I do, cause I'm not a stinky puppy who can't tell the difference between Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon."

And just for his rude comment, I changed his juice to vodka. He lit up like a Christmas tree.

"That's 'cause they're all shi—"

"What's the extent of your powers?" Sam cut in.

I rolled my head to the side to stare at him. He's not even pretending to be subtle.

"That's Sam for you," Seth chirped with a smile.

I said that outloud?

"Yep."

Cool. I reached for my bottle and pouted when I found it empty. With a great sigh, I turned back to Sam. "Hmmm, not really sure. We're supposed to be tested by the Covenant when we come of age, but when I did it wasn't safe 'cause of all the burnings, and Alice and Rose weren't old enough. And we're all sixteen currently; the age of majority is nineteen."

I wriggled into a comfier spot on the couch and thought about it more. "I know I could easily kill a vampire, but to a witch that's not a real big deal. Vampire's aren't the highest on the power scale… The only problem with that is the treaty that makes us go 'poof' when we do."

At their confused faces, I flapped a hand. "Next time." I tipped my head back. "I'd have to fight…I don't know, a baby cerberus? They're resistant little fuckers." I pointed at Seth seriously, warning him. "I don't care how cute their puppy dog eyes are, they are almost impossible to train and slobber everywhere. And my hair is far too nice to be slobbered all over.

"Plus try explaining him to humans then. I mean they're all so nosy. It's "what the hell is that?" and "why is it so big?" and "ah it's eating my leg"." I rolled my eyes. "This isn't Clifford the big red dog, you know."

Then I squinted at the puppies in front of me. "Is it racist to use puppy dog eyes on you?"

"Definitely." Paul nodded.

Sam crossed his arms. "So you could wipe out the Cullens? Or us?"

Jacob narrowed his eyes at the man but didn't say anything.

"Eh. I could, but I probably won't unless you attack me. Shifters are under Hekate's domain—even if you don't worship her as you should." I sent them all stern looks. "Since she gave the first ever shifters their powers and you are all considered her children. You are protected under her domain and no self respecting witch would kill you on a whim. Doesn't mean they won't hurt you though." Then I pointed at him, clutching my now refilled bottle of vodka. "Unless you take my alcohol. Then all bets are off."

"But the Cullens—"

"Are you seriously interrogating a drunk girl?"

We all spun around to see two young women walk in with matching looks of disapproval aimed at Sam.

"Chill out, Leah!" Paul called, patting my feet which were comfortably in his lap. "We're just getting the gossip. Did you know she can eat three pizzas in four minutes?"

"In three," I corrected him with a giggle.

"Thr—Ha!" He slapped his hand over his mouth to contain his giggles which just set me off even more.

"Gossip? It looks like you are taking advantage of a vulnerable young girl right now," the other girl hissed.

She had a pretty face, only enhanced by the striking scars—clearly claw marks. To most people she might seem ugly, but to me her scars were the mark of a survivor. Having seen the puppies transformed I had no doubts about where she had gotten them from.

The first girl with a short black bob—Leah—glared daggers at the boys. "You are unbelievable! You should have given her water and called the elders to contact Charlie. Instead you're here—"

I cut her off with a wave of my hand, trying to calm my giggles. "Although I'd love to see some good strips torn off peoples hides, they don't deserve it this time." I pressed my lips together to keep from falling again as Paul collapsed into another fit of giggles. "Yeah I'm drunk—probably had more to drink than a fish at this point—but I'm not that drunk. I knew what they were doing and I went along for shits and gigs."

Paul snickered, gasping out "shits and gigs" between giggles.

"And cause they let me keep drinking," I added.

"Cheers to that." Paul raised his vodka grape juice—when he'd stopped laughing, of course—and I responded with a cackle.

~Scene~

"Where is she?"

I sat up sharply—rudely awoken and dislodging the puppy napping with his head on my stomach—when I heard Dad's voice, but I collapsed back into the couch with a groan as I tried not to throw up.

"If you throw up on my couch, I will throw you off a cliff," Jacob murmured.

I blew him a raspberry and buried back into the cushions to hide from Dad as he called out my name, his voice getting closer as he got closer. Paul was passed out beside me, hugging my legs to his chest while I shuffled my pillow over his calves. Most of the other wolves had disappeared at some point after I'd passed out—except for Seth, Jacob and Sam. Sam was arguing with the two girls who'd appeared earlier, Seth was propped up against the couch with his head plopped back on my stomach, and Jacob was just glaring at me.

"Bella!" Dad's voice of relief broke through the quiet of the living room, and I closed my eyes.

I could feel the puppies around me shifting as they woke, but I kept my eyes firmly closed with my arms across my chest as I ignored him.

If I can't see you, you can't see me!

"How much have you had to drink?"

"Yes." I responded.

His voice grew louder. "Why the hell wasn't I called sooner?"

~Scene~

"Noooooo" I whined as Dad attempted to pull me up by the hand "But, Daddy I wanna stay with the puppies!"

"We're going home and you're never drinking again."

Sam scooped me up and threw me over his shoulders. Dad nodded in thanks and I pouted at them both.

I kicked my legs out as he carried me through the house "Wait! They might have an orgy without me! Let me stayyyyy! I'm bi! I should be allowed!"

When it became clear I wasn't going to be allowed to stay I sighed and patted the dogs heads as I passed them. "Bye, puppies."

"Bye, Bella!"

"See ya, Smelly Belly!" Paul waved tiredly from the couch, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

I was suddenly distracted by the very close view I had of Sam's backside, and because I had no impulse control I reached out and grabbed it "So firm…like wood, oh, no wait. The wood's in front…'

"From what I hear it's more like a limp noodle," Paul called out with a grin.

I pulled a rolled newspaper from my back pocket and threw it at his nose. "Bad puppy!"

As I was being pulled out the door I gripped the frame and poked my head back inside "Jacob, you never responded to me top or bottom? I asked with an evil grin

"Bottom!" Paul shouted with a laugh

I gave him an appraising stare. "You'd know all about Jacob's bottom, wouldn't you?" I shot back before losing my grip on the frame as I cackled my way to the cruiser.

March 12th, 2003

Fuck you. You will burn in hades for this. You and your children will rue the day they ever crossed me, you ungrateful bastard spawn. I threw my alarm clock at the wall, glaring at it harder when it didn't break to pieces. Or shut up.

I was in no mood for the screeching mechanical demon's shit today. My head was pounding, someone seemed to have replaced my lightbulb with the sun and my mouth tasted like death had popped in for a snog.

I groaned as I peeled myself off the bed, grimacing as I noticed the covers were damp from sweat. I felt my shirt and shuddered as I realised I was drenched. I didn't bother reaching for my magic—just the thought of using it so soon into my hangover made me want to throw up.

With a groan I stumbled to my feet and yanked the covers off my bed, stripping it bare before I threw the covers into a laundry basket. I'd scrub the mattress later.

I turned to head to the bathroom only to slam face first into the door. "Fucking door," I snarled, opening it and heading to take a cold shower.

Half an hour later I was fully clean and no longer smelled like a liquor store or gym locker room. I knew Alice would most likely be up, however Rose would be asleep until someone woke her or her internal clock rang.

Looking into the hall and ensuring no one was there I lightly walked down the stairs, deftly skipping the squeaking step—or attempting to anyway—but the stairs had chosen to be evil. Instead of landing silently on the next step as I usually did my head spun and I accidentally tipped over the railing entirely.

"Ack!" I yelped as I crashed to the floor. "I'm okay."

"Morning."

"Morning." I sighed, peeling myself off the ground, glaring at the evil stairs. "I need a drink," I huffed.

"I left you one on the counter." Dad turned back to his newspaper and I was glad he wasn't lecturing me as I'd expected after last night.

Thanks for being cool about this, Dad. Last thing I need right now is someone trying to tell me to make better life choices.

I headed to the kitchen and wrinkled my nose in disgust at the green…thing that was currently in a glass pretending to be a drink. I could probably make it taste better with alcohol.

"I've thrown out all your alcohol—even your hidden bottles—so don't even think about it."

I walked into the living room and raised an eyebrow, did he really think he'd found all my hiding spots.

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. He nodded a little as though to say 'go for it'.

I reached under the coffee table and pouted when I found it empty. Same with the one in the bookshelf.

"Drink your juice and go back to bed, Bella." Dad turned back to his newspaper.

I smirked and picked up the couch cushion before turning it over and opening the secret compartment I had put into it when we'd first moved here and triumphantly pulled out a bottle of vodka. "Ha!"

But he pulled it from my hands before I could even get the lid off.

"Hey! That's mine! I won it fair and square from those bikers!" I huffed.

"Bikers? What—you know what? I don't care where you got it from." He scowled. "You're not having any more alcohol. Not only are you underage, but you could have died from the amount of alcohol you drank last night! Do you know how worried I was about you? I almost had a heart attack when Billy said you were at his place drunk!"

"I have more hiding spots!" I dodged around him—and his concern. "And I like alcohol. I've been drinking since I was twelve and it hasn't killed me yet." I got up and went around the room checking my hiding spots, the lamp shade, the counter, the curtain rods.

"Yeah, well not under my roof you won't be. I never want to see you like that again.."

"I have some in the roof as well," I said offhandedly as I yelped in triumph after opening the painting on the wall. I had hollowed out a hole behind it months ago. I pulled out the tequila bottle.

"Not anymore you don't. Your sisters grabbed those bottles." He snatched it away before I could even think about drinking it. "And the carton of beer you'd stashed under the shed."

I pouted. "Even the mini bottle I hid in the gutters?"

"Enough, Bella." Dad stopped in front of me and the concern in his eyes made my chest hurt. I looked away. "I'm worried about you."

"Nope, feelings are gross," and I ran back to my room.

~Scene~

The plan was brilliant, utterly foolproof, really there was no room for failure, so I still couldn't understand how Dad had caught me trying to sneak out the first time, or the second, or even the third! Okay so the first might have been my fault as I'd attempted to flush a bunch of paper down the toilet and cause a flood as a distraction.

However I'd forgotten that Rose had carved Runes into the pipes to make it impossible for them to get stopped up back when He and Grandma Ester had had the house renovated. The pipes were not in good shape and the budget had hardly covered our rooms, and that was with Grandma Ester absorbing most of the costs. So on my say Rose had snuck into the construction zone and carved away.

That meant that the only thing Charlie had needed to do was put in more toilet paper.

During the second attempt, I blamed the alcohol still left in my system—okay and the travel sized bottle of rum I kept hidden amongst my potions for emergencies. My plan was to hide in his room under the bed because, surely he wouldn't find me there, and then when he found me missing and went out to look for me I could slip out through the back door and hide in the woods.

I had already secretly called Leah and she had promised me a hideout at her place if I could cook for her and Seth. Their mother—bless her heart—didn't know how to make anything that wasn't covered in batter. Not well anyway.

Only when he'd come into his room to put on his shoes, he'd sneezed, and I had said 'bless you' because I wasn't rude. He'd sighed and asked me what I was doing under his bed. This part I blamed on the alcohol because I had then proceeded to deny I was under his bed and try to convince him I was actually at Angela's having fun while I was grounded so he'd go and put a stop to it.

The third time was simply baffling, it had been my best plan yet! I had charmed the phone in his office to ring, the one only the station calls on when there had been something big happening, okay so I might not have concentrated like I was meant to, but really it wasn't my fault what happened, and the phone had rung.

Except it was only a deputy calling…to report that all the station phones kept ringing simultaneously… And he'd caught me when I giggled on my way past his office. Thankfully he couldn't pin that one on me, even if he had given me a 'stop whatever weird shit you're doing' look.

But this time was just ridiculous. I'd escaped the house completely. I'd gotten outside and onto the grass before he'd even finished his newspaper! And I'd only taken one tiny nap out there—because escaping was hard work and that grass was so soft—but he'd found me anyway. What the fuck?

"Go inside, Bells." He crouched next to me, blocking the afternoon sun from my face. He ran his hand through my hair, pulling the loose strands away from my sweaty skin. "Go to bed. Sleep this off and you'll feel better tomorrow."

I shook my head, burying it into the grass. "I don't wanna."

"Bells—"

I shook my head again. "They're inside," I whispered. "I don't—I can't, Dad. They'll just hurt me again."

I didn't know why I said it—maybe I was still a little drunk—but once it was out, I couldn't take it back.

Dad's face crumpled. "I wish you girls would tell me what's going on. How did they hurt you? Why are you girls fighting?" His shoulders slumped. "Let me help you. Please. You're scaring me."

I turned my head away, for a moment I'd wished he could understand. I wished I could tell him and he would already know why this was such a big deal. But he didn't and even if I told him he wouldn't truly get it, not really. "You wouldn't understand."

"Please, Bells," he pleaded. "Is that why you got drunk yesterday? Because of this fight?" When I didn't say anything, he whispered, "Talk to me, Bells. Please. Let me help."

But I couldn't. I couldn't let him in. It was too hard. All of it. When I let people in, I got hurt and I couldn't keep doing that. Who could I trust if I couldn't trust my sisters?

Eventually he sighed, and I curled into a tighter ball. I waited for him to walk back inside, but suddenly he was lifting me up. He staggered under my weight, but didn't stop once as he walked back inside and through the house.

I didn't see my sisters, and for half a second I wondered if they were giving me privacy. However as I listened to ensure they weren't coming down, it dawned on me that I was wrong. They weren't being decent. They just weren't here.