Hey guys. This chapter is over three-thousand five hundred words! I hope you all enjoy it!

This chapter is dedicated to cinda1, Kinesha Pendock, and AprilNichole for getting me back on the right track. Thanks guys!

Disclaimer: None of this is mine! It all belongs to Mrs. Stephenie.

Chapter Twelve

The day after I had gone to see Dr. Max I felt fine again. I got a good night's rest, just as he'd prescribed, and I felt much better in the morning, well enough to eat a good breakfast. I went upstairs after breakfast to close up the floorboard, but before I did, I resolved to look inside. It was just a quick glance, but it told me all that I needed to know. There were two envelopes in there, I pulled each one out. Beside them were a CD, and several other things that I recognized and associated with Edward. Obviously that was why he put them here; it will be as if I'd never existed. I sighed, this was so melodramatic, so Edward. I nailed the floorboard shut again, only leaving the two envelopes on my bed. I didn't want to look at the other things. I opened the smaller, white, envelope first. It had two pieces of stiff paper inside.

I looked at the paper closer; they were two tickets to Jacksonville, Florida. I looked at the envelope again; in neat ink were the words:

For Bella

From Carlisle and Esme on the happy occasion of your birthday:

They were presents from my parents-to-be on my eighteenth birthday! It was a shame that they had expired, I hated to offend them in any way, even by not using a gift. I put them in a drawer. I opened the manila envelope next. I thought I knew what was inside, and I was right.

Inside were pictures, every single picture of Edward and me together. There were several that had been taken before my eighteenth birthday, and then those taken after. I saw the difference. Edward's happy, smiling face, Edward's face exasperated with my childish interest in him, Edward's lovely, beautiful face…and then Edward's hard, stone cold face, Edward's face that didn't love me anymore…or did…

He had told me that he loved me. So? What did that mean anymore? He left me for my own good?

Oh God. He had left me for my own good! After that, he'd tried to stay away from me! And it wasn't as if he hadn't thought it through! He had tried to distance us before he left, tried so hard, but I hadn't let go. I still hadn't let go! And he hadn't either! Oh God!

And I had believed the lie! He really had loved me when he was saying it…but he lied. A memory suddenly came to me, that's because you believe the lie Bella! He was a good liar, he had to be! And that whole show in the forest, when he dumped me, it was just that, a show. It had all been an act. Edward still loved me? Edward still loved me! And some part of me, deep down, rejoiced, as if it had know that all of this time, but only kept it a secret from me…probably for my own good!

I needed to scream. I ran downstairs. "Jake!" I called, "Do you want to go cliff diving?"

"Sure?" came the response. It was more of a question than an answer.

"For therapeutic purposes, maybe?" He was much more willing then. We changed into bathing suits, got into my car and we drove to the tip of the cliff where I had seen Sam, Jared, and Paul dive years before. I parked almost at the edge, because although my clumsiness had recovered mostly with age, I still was far from perfect. I didn't have the intent of falling off of the cliff before I was ready.

I walked quickly to the edge of the cliff. "I'm ready, Jake!" I had done this hundreds of times before, but never without a partner, that was just stupid.

"'Kay!" he said back, "I'll be right behind you!"

"No, let's jump together." I said.

"Alright." He took his place next to me, and we scanned the cliff below, making sure that we could jump far enough out not to hit anything. It probably wouldn't hurt Jake, but I didn't want to be Bella-mush on the side of a cliff.

I put my hands above my head, as if I was diving into a pool not off of a cliff, and counted down. On 'zero' Jake and I tumbled off of the cliff. I was falling, "Yes!" I hissed. I screamed then, like I had wanted to. Jake only watched me, chuckling. "I knew it." I whispered to the wind, "I knew he loved me. I really did!" I knew even more out here, surrounded by nature, right where I was supposed to be.

I hit the water and, after struggling for a minute, bobbed up and down above the waves. Jake and I swam to shore. He got there first, show off, and pulled me up when I reached the end. "Gosh." I said, "Diving at thirty-five is definitely different than diving at eighteen!" Jake agreed readily and laughed with me. We headed home to change, and to relieve Leah of her babysitting duties.

EPOV

A few days after Bella had left us to wallow in misery without a teacher, Alice had yet another vision. This one also concerned Bella. She was stepping up to the side of a cliff, and Jacob Black was with her. A good look at him, it was easy to tell that he was Ephraim's grandson. The resemblance was striking. Bella was laughing with him. Then they jumped. Alice's vision followed her down, catching some things from her mouth, and then I was able to read her lips for the other parts.

She was confessing her love to me…to nobody. Although the werewolf was right next to her, she wasn't talking to him. She landed quicker than I would have thought, and then climbed out of the water with Black. She looked worn. I decided to check her medical records again, on instinct, as I thought about her strange confession.

This was all that my brain could think at the moment, She loves me! Bella loves me! She really does! God! Bella!

When I saw her record, my brain changed its train of thought. It became self-deprecating once again. In the short time since I had last checked on Bella, she had gone to a shrink, and was prescribed different meds. Was I the cause of this? Certainly. I needed to go to her, keep her out of trouble with cliffs, and keep her in my arms.

After all, she loved me now, it didn't matter what I did, right?

Alice suddenly came barreling into the room, "Don't you dare!" she screeched, "I saw what you're about to do, and you had better not!"

"Why not? I have every right!"

"Did I hear you correctly? You do not have any right to do anything! Listen to me, Edward. You've screwed up badly in the last few weeks, and there's only one way that I can think of to make it better! You have to take it slow, make her trust you again. You physically assaulted her! She could actually press charges for that! Then, of course, you have been nothing but a bother in her class. You need to tone it down, take it one step at a time, just because she loves you doesn't make it okay for you to do anything that you want! She's no longer an impressionable teenager, Edward, she has a life, a family, a name, besides you. You need to court her properly this time."

I rolled my eyes a little, and she left. Alice was becoming a life coach. She could give it rest, I thought. But she did make some very valid points. I would take it slow for a while, but I would keep an eye on her. She didn't seem to mind last time. I decided to go to Forks. As long as she didn't know it, it wouldn't matter to her. I could watch her sleep. She would never know. If I hurried, I could run there before nightfall! I got up, grabbed my credit card, driver's license, student ID, a thousand dollars in cash, and left running.

BPOV

I got home, took a shower, and played in the backyard with Alice for a while. Jake and Leah went home. A few hours later, he called. As it happened, while Jacob and I were at my house and at Dr. Max's the dinner party was supposed to have happened. But it was postponed because Jake and Leah weren't there. It was to be that night instead, and the invitation was still open. I had completely forgotten, in all of yesterday's madness, but I quickly took Alice inside and got her dressed in a pink dress, and white tights. She insisted on bringing her new teddy bear, named Furry, and I acquiesced because it would probably make Jake and Leah happy.

We got to Emily's house quickly. It was literally bursting with werewolves. Several who could not fit in the house were outside. Not to mention the temperature, it was burning inside! The body heat of three humans and ten or so wolves was staggering. I was glad that I had worn a tank top underneath my button down; I quickly unbuttoned my shirt, and took off the t-shirt and tights that Alice was wearing underneath her dress.

Emily, Kim, Rachel, Leah, Claire, Alice, and I claimed the kitchen as a men-free zone. We gossiped, talked, cooked as if for an army, and gave Alice motherly advice that she wouldn't need for at least another ten years, possibly the next forty if I had my way.

When dinner was finally done cooking, we brought it out, with major help from the guys, and set it on a long plastic buffet table outside. The other three tables were meant to seat everybody. We got food, sat down, and dug in. I sat with Jake, Leah, Brady, Kim, and Jared. We were laughing merrily at some joke that Brady was telling, it was apparent that he had the skill to become a professional comic actor, when the four wolves at my table tensed. Jake's nose twitched and he looked at Leah, something passed between them in that moment that was unmistakable. They were expecting something and now it had happened. But what?

Jake smiled at us and went to talk to Sam. Sam took a deep breath, and then shook his head 'yes' minutely. Jake sighed. Sam stood, the rest of the wolves, who by now had smelled whatever this was as well, came to gather around his table. Only Kim, Alice, and I were left at our table. Rachel, who was now alone at her table, came to join us. Jake broke from the circle and came to us. "We've got the scent of a bloodsucker 'bout a mile from here. It's heading toward your house, Bells, so we're going to get a reading on it. We'll take care of it."

"Be careful!" I burst out.

Jake rolled his eyes, and patted my head condescendingly, "Of course, Bella, we always are!" I looked around, most of the wolves had already disappeared into the trees, if I listened hard, I could hear them horsing around, waiting. Only Leah was waiting for Jake. He grabbed her hand, and they ran faster than a human could into the woods. Emily and Claire quickly joined us at our table, both looking worried.

"What did they say?" I asked quickly.

"There's a leech in Forks." Said Claire, "He's headed toward your home, Bella."

"Yeah." I said quietly, and then I remembered the most important thing, "Charlie!"

"He'll be fine." Said Emily, "the boys and Leah have got it covered."

"Yeah." I said quietly. "Sure, sure."

"So, women, since we're the only ones left, I'd better say it now!" Emily grinned widely and looked at me. I smiled back at her, anticipating her words. "I'm pregnant!"

I only smiled; Kim and Rachel immediately were screaming their congratulations and running to give Emily hugs. Claire looked faintly nauseated. "What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Nothing much. It's just that the thought of babies sort of grosses me out at the moment." She hesitated, "I'm sure it's just a teenage thing. I don't know."

I patted her on the back, "I didn't want children when I was nineteen either. I just wanted to find the perfect guy, you know?"

"Did you?"

"No." I said quickly. Although I had. "Of course, though, you have!" I said, forgetting that Quil and Claire were, at the moment, just friends. She blushed hard and fast. "What did I say?"

"How did you know?"

"What?"

"How did you know that I like him? Actually, I think I love him!" She was talking about Quil.

"No reason, I just know! Mother's instinct, you know." I said quickly. She smiled tentatively, "No worries, Claire, your secret's safe with me. But I think that you should ask him out. He'd like that."

"Why? You talked to him? When?" She was intrigued.

"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of talking about you with him…but I know he loves you!" I was toeing a narrow line, I was guessing that Quil had not revealed that he had imprinted upon her. How strange! But I suppose it wasn't necessary, she already loved him, I guess. "Well, congratulations Emily!" I said.

"Oh, yes, of course. Congrats!" said Claire.

The wolves were back within the hour, we were delighted to see that all had returned, but we were not so delighted when Leah and Jacob seemed to be seriously wounded. Sam was quite disgruntled and the rest of the pack were growling and pacing, some were unable to turn back into humans, because of their ire.

Jake, however, turned back quickly, in order to heal as a human. Emily was already grabbing bandages and antiseptic ointment. Leah was limping into Emily and Sam's house, obviously she did not want to phase in front of everybody. I rushed into the house, and Emily tossed me some first aid equipment as I ran. Alice stayed with me. Leah was already changed and pulling pants on gingerly. It was her right arm that was torn up.

"What happened to you guys?" I asked her.

"Nothing. It's no big deal. Only, the bloodsuckers have come back." Leah prodded the area of her arm that was bleeding and winced, it was already healing, I had to clean it fast before it healed dirty and gave her an infection. I tried not to look at the blood, and only breathed through my mouth as I bandaged her wound.

"What!? They can't! They're too young…they'll be found out!" I was terrified for the wolves of La Push, The Cullens, and myself. It was clear that they would now follow me until I decided to accept Edward's offer. But Alice wouldn't do that to me! And Esme wouldn't either. Suddenly, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. The only one who really would stalk me was Edward. "How many of them were there?"

"Just one. Your bloodsucker."

I growled under my breath. "He's not mine."

"Right, sorry. But anyway, to answer your question, when we saw that it was just one, we closed in for the easy takedown. However, he's the mind reading one. You know, so he heard us coming, and took a defensive position by a grouping of trees. It was in a meadow…oh, you know the place. It's where the pack took down that black-haired leech before I joined."

"Laurent?"

"I don't know his name! Do you expect me to ask their names before I kill them? God, Bella." He grinned, letting me know that she was kidding.

"Anyway, he was just laying there, we thought it would be easy, but then he heard us and was up and ready for a fight. We were in formation, as we should have been, but when Jake saw who it was, the hothead went in for the personal kill. We could have left him to kill it, but lord the leech was fast!" Leah said this with a little bit of unwilling awe in her voice.

"Anyway, he said, 'three legs, mongrel' and started to go for Jake's leg. So, of course, I stepped in and pushed the leech aside. He pushed me away, and managed to break my arm. Clean break, though, it healed on the way home, now it's just torn up…but healing!" Leah looked hopeful. I didn't understand how a broken arm could heal in half of an hour, but whatever happened, happened. "Okay, so after he hit me Jake got all offended and started to go for this bloodsucker's head, even though he's a Cullen and we're not allowed to."

I gasped, "You tried to kill him?"

"Well, Jake did. I managed to pull him away, though, long enough for Sam to tell the leech to scat. It only took a couple of seconds. Jake was fierce 'bout it too! Never thought he had that much in him! I was always faster than him, but when he ran after that prick, thinking of you after he'd gone, you know, years ago…he was wicked fast!" Leah leaned back on the couch, her arm almost healed. "Well, I'm going to put a shirt on now." She went upstairs to get dressed. I heard the water running; it seemed as if she was taking a shower as well.

"Mommy, what's a bloodsucker?" I'd forgotten that Alice was listening into the entire conversation.

"A bloodsucker is just another name for a vampire."

"Like Dracula?"

"No, sweetheart, not like Dracula. These bloodsucker are good bloodsuckers, they only drink animal blood."

"Ewww!"

"What?"

"Blood!"

"Oh, I don't like blood either. It makes me dizzy, but you know that, don't you?" We smiled at her. "You've been really good today, Ali. Do you want to go out for a treat later tonight?

"Yeah!"

"It's a deal, then. Just the two of us, we'll have a girls' night out!" I nuzzled her neck, and she giggled, so ticklish.

Later that night we went out for dessert, the dinner party had mostly been aborted, so after Emily had made her announcement, the guests trickled out. Alice and I went into Port Angeles for a little bit of brownies and ice cream. We shared a sundae, I ate the parts that she didn't finish (most of it), but she enjoyed herself and that's what was important.

We drove back to Emily's after dessert, because Alice had left Fuzzy there. Thankfully, we didn't wake up the expecting couple, and strangely enough, Jacob was still there. Actually, as I thought about it, I realized that it wasn't so strange. Sam was the Alpha, and Jacob the…Beta. I smiled at the name that I'd come up with so long ago. It made sense that they would still be conferring. Emily handed us the bear, and we tried to leave quietly but nothing, short of death, is quiet when there are werewolves around.

Jake stopped us on our way out, "Bells! Alice! I'm going to escort you home, alright?"

My eyebrows came together, "I can take care of myself, Jacob."

"No you can't! He's a full grown vampire!" He seemed appalled.

"Well, you can't exactly be a half-grown vampire!" I hissed at him.

"Calm, Bella. But seriously, please just let me take you home?" He seemed genuinely worried.

"Calm? Oh yes, this coming from the master of 'calm' mister I-phase-on-the-fly-whenever-I-can-prove-my-manliness." I sighed, "Sure, you can come with us. You know, if it was anybody else…"

"Yeah, I know." Jacob understood how much I would have put up a fight if it were Sam or Embry offering to protect me. The three of us headed toward home. I was brought up short when I was on my block. Jacob started to growl under his breath. "Turn around, Bella." He said shortly, "He's in your house."

"What!" I was shocked. Why the hell was he in my house? First of all, that was just creepy! And second of all, I told him specifically to stay out of my house! I knew I loved him now, but I was still raging mad at him! How was I supposed to feel? Did he expect me to be happy that he had trespassed onto my property? Goodness!

"Come and sleep at my house for the night, alright?" I readily agreed, and quickly phoned Charlie to let him know that the party had died, but Jake invited me to sleep over with Alice. He asked why, and I made up some quick lie about how Alice was already asleep and I didn't want to move her. He fell for it hook, line, and sinker even though Alice was already five and way over the stage where it was impossible to get her back to sleep. But I forgave him; he had had no experience with any babies, even me. It was a good thing that Sue didn't live with him…yet…she would have seen right through my lie!

I settled into Jacob's couch about an hour later, with Alice snuggled into the crook of my arms. Jacob was upstairs, watching TV with Leah, and the house was silent, yet companionable. I quickly drifted off to sleep.