Hey guys, sorry for the delay! Things came up, you know how life is. The good news? This chapter is longer then usual! The even better news? I'm almost done chapter 5!!

Enjoy,

Avey

Chapter 4 - The Path of Temptation

How is it that I let a mere mortal like Edward Swan run me from my home, my family? This question I keep asking myself as I make the drive towards the place my family waits. I know Alice has already warned them and it warms my dead heart to know they are waiting for me. As I pull my Volvo into the drive, I see Esme waiting for me, a smile lighting up her face when her dark eyes fall onto my car. She has neglected her feeding again; she always does when she is worried about one of us. It hurts me to know I am the cause of her current state. How dare the Swan boy push me to do this, how dare he force me to leave my family and hurt those I love. Who is he that he thinks he can chase me away from the place I want to be.

Silently I got out of my car, knowing I wouldn't be questioned, Alice had already told them everything, at least everything she knew. Granite arms wrapped around me after I had closed the door, squeezing me tight. Hesitantly I hugged my mother, her body shaking slightly, if we were capable of tears, I knew Esme would be crying into my shoulder at this moment. "Sorry Mama." I whispered, burying my face in her thick, brown hair. "I won't do it again." It wasn't a promise, but it was the best I could do.

Carlisle squeezed my shoulder, "You're home, that's all that matters." His smile was disarming, comforting. "Whatever happens now, happens as a family." He fixed me with a stare. "No more of this on your own thing. We're a family, and we look after each other."

"Ya, kid, what's the big idea of running off." Emmett laughed from in front of the television, a football game playing across the screen. "Next time you decide to go on vacation, extend an invitation, geez."

"Fine, boy, next time I take off, I'll bring you along. I mean I could always use some comic relief." I stuck my tongue out at him. "We could all use a good laugh."

"Just call next time." Rosalie breezed into the room without even looking at me, we never had the most stable of relationships, this was no exception. "For all we knew you were on a killing spree in Hawaii."

Alice shook her head, "I told you she was fine, do you doubt me now, Rose?"

"Hell, Rosy, even I wouldn't bet against Alice." Emmett's laughter shook the house.

Esme's smile was large and genuine, "Come on, Isabella, let's get out of the doorway." She gave me one more hug. "You're home now, that's all that matters."

"Welcome back, Bell." Jasper's southern drawl wafted from upstairs, odd being so far from Alice, but hey, I'm not judging.

"It's good to be back, Jaz." I laughed, I meant every word of that. I still couldn't believe I had ever left. How could I have let Edward chase me away from all this? I am essentially a selfish creature and never in my long life have I ever let anyone chase me away from where I want to be. That's a lie, Kirin did take me away from the Amazon, I resented him for awhile because of that, but then again, it brought me to where I am today, and for that I thank him.

"We've circulated the rumor that you've been sick with the flu. So if you're up to it, you're good to go back to school whenever you're ready." Carlisle informed me as we all lounged around the t.v. "I've been offered a job in Vancouver, which is always an option too."

I shook my head instantly, there was no way we were movie a minute before we had too. "No, I'm fine, just needed to clear my head a bit, you know." I smiled for them, "I'll hit school in the morning, a miraculous recovery and all."

Emmett jumped up suddenly and stretched. "Well, I'm ready for a hunt, who's in?" seems Esme wasn't the only one on a hunger strike. "I hear there's an abundance of grizzly's in the park right now." His grin was bearish itself.

Jasper came down then, "I'll join in."

Rose took her time getting up, "I guess I could come along."

"We should all probably go." Carlisle said.

"I've already eaten; I'll stay back if you don't mind." Alice informed us. "Bella will keep me company."

Esme looked like she was about to comment, but I stopped her. "I've eaten already, bagged me a couple big cats down south, and made some stops on my way home too. I'm stuffed." I pet my stomach. "You guys go on without us, we'll be fine."

With a quick nod from Carlisle, the family was off like a shot, leaving us two girls with the house to ourselves. Alice hugged me, holding me tight for a moment, "I'm glad you're home, you won't hurt him you know."

I shrugged and flopped onto the couch. "He was so damn appetizing Alice, his blood just called to me, you know? Has that ever happened to you?" I looked at her now, hoping that I wasn't alone in this situation.

She gave me a sad smile, " I'm sorry hun, I can't say that there was anybody that calls out to me the way Edward calls to you." She sat down beside me. "But I can tell you for sure that you won't hurt Edward, he means too much to you for you to harm him."

I raised an eyebrow, "Alice?" I asked uncertainly, "What have you seen?"

Laughing, she leaned down and kissed my cheek, "Oh, Bella, what haven't I seen?" she gave me a knowing smile, "I knew you'd find him one of these days, just be strong, and don't be afraid, you'll see, everything will be alright in the end."

I leaned away and looked at her, just looked at her. "Alice? You scare me most of the time, but right now I'm down right terrified." The mischievous smile continued to scare me. "You're not going to tell me are you?"

She shook her head, still grinning ear to ear. "Not a chance. You're not ready yet."

"Will I be ready soon?" I asked with a sigh.

"You'll know when it's time."

* * *

Snow was falling steadily all morning, piling up on the ground. Snowball fights were abundant as I made my way from the cafeteria to biology class. Though I knew it would be melted by the end of class, it still made me cringe. Snow was not my favorite form of precipitation.

It was the moment of truth. Sitting in class I waited for my personal hell to enter and I prayed I was strong enough to resist the temptation. I forced myself to breath, to relax from my rigid stance. I scooted my chair to the far side of the desk, hoping the distance might help save us both. Deep breath Bell, I told myself. Here he comes. I filled my lungs as much as I could, and waited.

Beside me the chair scrapped as Edward sat down. I turned and smiled, hoping to put him at ease. "Hello, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself last week. My name is Bella Cullen. You're Edward, right?"

Startled, the boy eyed me suspiciously. "Ya, I'm Edward." He turned back to face the teacher, who was blabbering on about flatworms, or something such as boring. "You were gone for awhile." It sounded more like an accusation then a comment. He popped some pages out of his binder. "I took notes for you, I didn't know if you had anyone getting them for you."

"Thanks." The surprise was evident in my voice and even more so on my face. "I, ah, had to deal with some personal problems." I placed the notes in my own binder, the scrawl of his a direct contrast to the elegant calligraphy that was seen on every other page. "So, how are you liking Forks?" Stop talking you idiot!

His green eyes were questioning, searching me. Probably wondering about the attitude change. "It's . . . Okay." His discontent was obvious and I jumped on it.

"You don't like it though, do you?" Shoot, I was going to need more air.

"It's . . . very nice." He caught my speculative look and sighed. "I miss the sun. It seems so dark and gloomy here, and wet and cold."

I laughed, "You don't like the cold, eh?" how ironic. I turned my head to the side, taking a slow breath of air that seared my throat. His scent saturated my mind, sending me wheeling for a moment. Think of something appalling. . . . Emmett in his underwear. Emmett in his underwear. Emmett in his . . . I shuttered. Ewwww.

"I prefer the heat, nice and dry. You feel like you're being burned alive." He smiled and an answering one graced my lips.

"Then why are you here? Did you get kicked out of your last school?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"No, no. Nothing like that. My mom got remarried." He shrugged, as if that explained everything.

"And you don't like the guy." Ha! Score one for me.

"What? No! I love Phil, he's a great guy, and he treats Mom like gold." He sighed. "I just wanted to give them some time to themselves."

"So you're making yourself miserable to make them happy?" I was sure that I had humans down pat, that I could predict them for the most part. Apparently I was wrong because I had no idea what this boy was thinking.

"I'm not miserable." He said defensively. "I love living with Charlie."

"But you're not happy."

He shrugged. "I'll adapt. It's not all about me."

The bell rang and I stoop up slowly, dawdling as I grabbed my books. "So, you love Arizona but you move here, to a place you don't really like." I smiled and chuckled. "I'm an honour role student and I'm confused."

Edward smiled as I followed him out of the room. "I just want my mom to be happy, I don't want her to worry about me. And Charlie's happy to have me. I'm happy because they're happy."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're happy because they're happy?"

"Ya." He watched me for a moment. "Did you do something different to yourself?"

"Um, no." I blinked, taken aback.

"Your eyes, they're a caramel colour now. They were almost black before." He watched me carefully.

"I, uh." Crap. In two hundred years I still hadn't completely perfected the art of lying. Sad, I know, but the truth none the less. "It was bad lighting." Hey, that one wasn't even too bad.

"The sun was shinning through the window." His voice was bland, but a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth.

"Class, got to go." Turning, I left him there, stunned by my sudden departure.

Amazing how easy that had been. He had survived, and so had I. My family had never shown up in a panic and Emmett never did pull the fire alarm. I breathed a sigh of relief, a breath of fresh, clean air, untainted by temptation. A smile lit across my face as I exited the school. Enough excitement for one day, with only Spanish left, I headed to my car to relax.

Slipping into the leather seats, I turned on the music. The soothing notes of Claire de Lune floated around me. I leaned back and let them take me where they would, guide me to a less complicated place and time. I thought about how much I had hurt Esme, and how I had only just managed not to disappoint Carlisle. I thought about Alice, my sister and my best friend, and about Emmett, the true big brother I never had as a human. Kiran came to mind, another brotherly figure, but more complicatedly so. It was unusual how much my old companion seemed to be popping into mind recently.

"So, you didn't kill him." A chuckle burst through my thoughts as Emmett slipped in beside me. "I have to say, I'm impressed. You're either really strong, or really stupid."

I rolled my eyes. "Or both." I muttered sardonically. Maybe I was just masochistic.

Emmett's laughter boomed in my little car. "Or that. Still, I could never control myself like that. You're so stubborn that once you get something fixed in your mind, you'll see it through to the end."

"How do you know, Em? Hoe do you know that you could never resist?" I asked, frustrated. My nerves were starting to fray after such a long day.

"Because I killed the girl rather then befriend her."

My head whipped around so fast I almost gave myself whiplash. "What?"

He nodded and rested his head back against the seat. "Ya, there was no thinking, just action. One minute I'm running an errand for Rosy, the next I have a mouth full of human. Mmmm, she tasted even better then she smelt." He closed his eyes, lost in the memory.

I shuttered, I didn't want to think about how good Edward smelt, let alone fantasize about how he would taste. That was just getting into horrifying territory.

"You should just off him now." Emmett commented nonchalantly. "Make all lives easier."

"I have to agree." Jasper drawled, slipping into the backseat, my two sisters behind him. "Just kill him and stop drooling after him."

A growl burst through my lips. "I will not kill him." I spat out, throwing the car in reverse.

"Well, you didn't kill him today, and Emmett, you owe me $100. Pay up." Alice demanded with a pretty smile.

"You bet against Alice?" the three of us chorused in amazemend.