Chapter 15

Sam's POV

I was sitting on the floor next to the couch where Danny laid, the venom working through him. He looked like he was in so much pain, and it broke my heart to see him this way. I couldn't bring myself to leave though. I couldn't leave him here all alone. I knew he'd never know if I was gone. The pain of the change overpowers everything on the outside. You don't notice who's there and who's not or what they're saying or doing. He wouldn't notice if I left, but I would. I would hate myself for it later, so I stayed.

After awhile I started talking to him. I didn't know why, since chances were he couldn't hear me or wouldn't listen, but I felt like doing it. He wasn't screaming—I was proud of him for that—so most likely he was able to hear me. However, the pain of the change was probably so much that he couldn't focus on what I was saying.

"You're gonna be a vampire soon Danny, not too much longer now. I know it's earlier than we talked about, but I had to do it. You would've died otherwise, and I'm sure you understand that. I'm sorry I almost drank all of your blood. I'm sorry I almost killed you. I really am. I'd never do anything to hurt you if I could help it. I hope you know that…." My ramblings continued on in much the same fashion for several hours. I talked to him about what it was like to be a vampire. What I'd experienced over the years. I told him about how we would have to move all the time, but it would be okay because no humans really ever accepted us anyway. I knew it sounded like a miserable lifestyle, so I apologized a lot too. I tried to tell him about the fun things we got to do, but there was always something I just couldn't explain right.

"The first year is the worst they say. I know my first year was pretty horrible, but then I didn't have any kind of self-control as a human so what was to be expected? Bella said her first year wasn't as bad as some are. I think she only wiped out half of a town or something. It was a small town though. I think you'll be different though. I mean maybe you'll be perfectly normal, but I've just got a feeling, you know?" It was pointless to talk to him like this, when he wouldn't respond, but I kept at it, never stopping.

"Don't worry about the first year though. You don't lose yourself to it completely, and after awhile you're back to your normal self. Well not normal, but you know, as close to normal as you can ever get. I'll still love you even when you're murdering people by the dozen, always remember that. Because you know what? The things I love most about you aren't ever gonna change. I love the way you get nervous sometimes about silly things, but then you're okay with things most people wouldn't be, like the whole vampire thing. I love how when you say 'Hello' it sounds like 'I'm sorry' but when you say goodbye it's like 'Please don't leave me.' I love how you're not afraid to be different…." I was interrupted by a throat being cleared behind me.

I looked around to see Bella standing in the doorway, looking awkward. She smiled at me somewhat sheepishly, and I was immediately suspicious. "What's going on?" I asked.

"Um, some things are gonna change around here," she said.

"Well, duh! With Danny as a vampire we're going to have to move away," I said, "And soon too."

"It's going to change a bit more than that actually. We've got a few new additions to our little coven," she said.

"What? Alice and Jasper are coming with us?" I asked. I had somewhat expected that. No way the perky chick could stay away from Bella for too long.

"And one more," she hinted. I thought for a minute, and what I came up with made me let out a snarl.

"No," I said firmly. There was no way I was letting the monster that nearly killed my Danny into the coven. It wasn't going to happen. Not over my smoldering ashes.

"Come on, Conner needs a place to call home," she pleaded.

"Then he can find somewhere else to call home," I snapped, "There's absolutely no reason to let him in!"

"Alice predicted it!" Bella stated, as if this solved everything. Well I wasn't buying it.

"So? Just because the freakish hyperactive pixie says it's gonna happen doesn't mean it will!" I shouted. She was really pissing me off here. I love Bella like a sister, but she made it so hard sometimes. How could she let another guy into her life when she'd just had her heart broken by one? True, there had to be differences between Conner and Edward, but still, how could she know that? She barely knew the guy for crying out loud!

"I don't go against Alice, ever," she said. I could tell her mind was made up, and Bella was notoriously stubborn, but I wasn't giving in so quickly either.

"Alright, then, tell me why, other than what Alice said, you think it's a good idea to let him join the coven?" I asked. I was trying to trap her in her own logic because I knew there wasn't a single reason she could provide that I couldn't shoot down.

"He . . . he just needs a second chance at life," she said, looking at the floor.

"Oh, like Edward needed a second chance?!" I said sarcastically, "Because that worked out so well."

Her head snapped up and before I could so much as think she had crossed the room and slapped me across the face, hard. Her face bore a murderous look, and I knew I'd hit a touchy subject. "Don't you ever talk about him to me! I know I was stupid! I know I messed up!" she yelled, "I hurt enough over it without you reminding me!"

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry," I said, and I meant it, "We'll give this a try."

~Time Skip~

~ten years~

I sat in the plane next to Bella, my foot tapping at what must have been a rather annoying speed. I couldn't believe how long this was taking. Who knew it took more than ten hours to get to Italy from Alabama? I didn't even want to go see the stupid Volturi, but they'd invited us, and according to the Almighty Alice, we had to go. She wouldn't give details, but she said that it had something to do with Danny's powers.

I knew they were amazing, that he was amazing, but still, why did the Volturi have to care? So what if he could absorb energy and use it for whatever he wanted? So what if that meant he could take other people's powers and use them for a minute? So what if that also meant he could tell when people were using their powers on him as well? Okay, so it was really cool, but why did they give a shit?! Maybe I was just cranky because I didn't get to sit next to Danny.

He was seated three rows ahead of me, next to Conner, who we were now calling Bella's "boyfriend." Okay, so when they've been together for the better part of ten years, it should totally be more than that, but that's just what she wanted to call it. Conner was just fine with the title, so we left it alone. Alice and Jasper were currently married, and Danny and I told people we were engaged. We weren't planning on having an actual wedding anytime soon, but in humans' minds and engagement made it sound more official. It didn't matter what we called it. In the vampire world, you knew you were going to be together forever. You didn't need proof.

"Sam would you cut it out already?!" Bella snapped. Apparently my foot tapping was getting out of control.

"Sorry," I said, stopping immediately, "I'm just bored!"

Bella sighed. "Would you like me to switch seats with Danny so that you can suck face?" she asked.

"That's not all we do!" I protested.

"That's all you do in public," she said.

"True enough," I agreed, "Now switch.

Bella slid out of the seat and walked up the aisle to Danny and Conner's seat. I heard a laugh come from Alice, who was seated behind them with Jasper. After a second Danny came back to me and Bella sat down with Conner. I smiled, bouncing up and down in my seat like an excited puppy. Okay, so I'm a bit hopeless. You'd think after ten years I'd get used to him, or bored, or something, but no.

"Hey," he said, sitting down next to me and putting an arm around my waist. I crawled onto his lap, wrapping my arms around his waist.

"Hey," I said. I was pretty sure this position was not approved by airline safety standards, but none of us were wearing seatbelts anyway, and the plane crashing wouldn't exactly hurt us.

Bella's POV

"Just couldn't stay away from me huh?" Conner asked jokingly as I sat down.

"Actually, Sam couldn't stay away from Danny, but she sent me to get him rather than move herself," I said.

We fell into silence then, and I started to think back to when Conner had first joined our coven. It had been hard for him to stick to the diet at first, especially since he'd lived on human blood for so long. We barely went anywhere for three years. With both him and Danny having trouble with the diet it was safest to stay away from humans and heavily populated areas.

I sat in the living room of our new house. It was the first place we'd come to after leaving Wisconsin. For some reason we'd chosen a small town in Nevada. We weren't actually in town, but in a house out in the woods which reminded me far too much of the one the Cullens used to have near Forks. Well we weren't the Cullens anymore. We were the Swans and the Masons. Sam and I were twins and Jasper was our brother. Conner, Danny, and Alice were also being called siblings. This was all a bit of a stretch, considering that not all of us looked alike, but it didn't really matter. We weren't going to school, and no one was really going to see us.

Alice, Jasper, Sam, and Danny were all out hunting, while Conner and I elected to stay at home. Conner didn't think he could do it, and I didn't want to leave him alone. He'd hunted animals before, so I really didn't see what the problem was, but there was no getting him to go. I looked up at the ceiling where Conner's room sat above this one. He'd been terribly quiet ever since the others left. I decided to check on him.

"You okay?" I called, knocking on the door.

"Yeah," came the reply, but I was sure from his tone that he wasn't.

"Oh really," I said, going in. I didn't care that he hadn't said I could. I just went in and took a seat on the bed next to him. "What's wrong with you?"

"I can't do it," he said, not looking at me.

"Do what?" I asked.

"You know what," he said, "I can't stick to the gold-eye diet."

"Sure you can," I told him.

"No, I can't. It's too hard," Conner said.

"Wimp," I muttered.

"What?" he said, head jerking up to glare at me.

"You heard me," I teased.

"I am not a wimp!" he growled.

"Yes you are! If you give up so easily just because it's a little difficult then that makes you a wimp!" I said.

"Am not!" he yelled.

"Are to!" I yelled back. We were arguing rather childishly, but someone we'd moved closer to each other, and my face was only a few inches from his. I took note of this fact but didn't move to change it. I kind of like his proximity.

He stared at me for a minute, just looking straight into my eyes. Mine were a dark gold, as I hadn't fed in awhile. His were an amber color, since he hadn't been on the veggie diet long enough to turn them completely gold. I leaned in closer, and he copied me. There was one last second of hesitation, and then his lips were on mine. I pressed myself closer to him, my hands shooting up to tangle in his soft hair. His arms wrapped around me. This was better, so much better, than kissing Edward had ever been.

I was brought back to the present by the pilot coming on the overhead intercom to tell us that we were beginning our descent into Milan. It would only be a short drive from there to Volterra, at least the way we drove. I sighed and took hold of Conner's hand, preparing myself for our meeting with the Volturi.