We were all running towards Billy's place soon after. We made it to the house in good time as we all stopped in a line several yards short of the front door. Carlisle was the only one to walk up and knock as we all waited for the door to open still in the same spot. Only one man was in the house and I assumed that was Billy as he opened the door to see Carlisle standing there. He had on a surprised look that quickly turned to irritation. "What brings you here?" Billy demanded changing his direction to the rest of us standing in wait. "It would seem that one of yours has attacked humans to which you forbid us in doing ourselves. We would like to discuss the fairness in this issue." Carlisle said calmly. "You know the treaty applies to only your kind, right?" Billy corrected. "That's where the fairness issue comes in. We've been restricted for so long and to know one of your own killed humans insults our efforts." Carlisle said slightly irritated. "Fine. We can discuss this. But it doesn't look like I have the room to fit everyone for this meeting. We'll have to do this out here." Billy said annoyed.
"That's fine with us." Carlisle said with gratitude while turning to walk back into formation with us.
"The weather will be kind to us today. This'll go smoothly." Alice said with a smile while looking towards the sky. At this point the sky was dark, but Billy's house provided enough light around our area, so we didn't have to focus too much on surroundings. Billy waited at the doorway of his house as we stayed in the same position. All of us looked in the direction of the trees as Jacob came walking out slowly. He stopped at the sight of us with surprise and fears of what our intentions were. Jacob slowly walked to his front door not taking his eyes off of us until he got close enough to see Billy in the doorway. "It's all right Jacob. We're conducting a civil meeting to discuss the treaty." Billy assured him. Jacob didn't respond quickly. He took a moment to pause trying to recall what happened to provoke this. He remembered what Paul did and just shook his head. "What do you want me to do?" He asked Billy.
"Gather everyone in this location." Billy said in a serious tone.
Jacob entered inside the house and wheeled Billy in front of us. He then rushed out into the woods soon after. It wasn't long before he came back to Billy's side again. "They're coming." Jacob said looking directly at us with a tense stance. Three other men came walking through the same spot Jacob entered as they approached Billy's side as well. "Sam's taking the leadership role here." Billy said gesturing Sam to stand forward in front of them all. "I'm representing our side." Carlisle said already in front of us all. "First let us discuss the problem at hand here." Carlisle asserted clearly. "One of your own has killed two humans." He added. "We are well aware of what happened and have taken care of the one responsible." Sam said with sadness in his eyes. "Clarify how you've "taken care" of the problem." Carlisle asked irritated by trivial responses.
"He means he killed the one responsible." I said knowing Sam didn't want to say it himself in clear words.
"I'm sorry to hear that, but this doesn't change the potential of another one of your own repeating this situation." Carlisle said calmly. "You need to give us more credit for our efforts. A slip up like this hasn't happened in a long while." Sam said irritated. "So how do we plan to fix this then? We're willing to let this go for a compromise." Carlisle asserted with confidence. I read Carlisle's mind and knew exactly what he wanted in exchange for their misstep. "And what would that be?" Sam asked concerned and pleased it would re-new the treaty. "You'll have to give me a moment while I discuss this with Edward." Carlisle said gesturing his hand to me. "Fine." Sam agreed. Carlisle turned and walked up to me. "Let's hear it." I said gesturing to our side. Carlisle nodded and knew I wanted them to hear this as well. "I'm going to ask them to make an exception to the rule. I'm going to force them to agree to us in allowing Bella to become a Cullen." Carlisle said just enough for only us to hear. I nodded in agreement. "Are you crazy?" Alice said confused. "I'm not saying we're going to transform Bella for certain, but I want the option there in case either Edward or Bella wants it done here." Carlisle added.
"That makes sense." Jasper said while looking at Alice.
"…Okay." Alice agreed still with doubt. "Do you think this kind of agreement is something they'd go with?" Emmett asked concerned. "If they want us to forget this ever happened, they shouldn't think twice." Carlisle said confidently. "You know you're more cynical than I give you credit for." I joked. Carlisle smiled and turned his attention back to Sam. Carlisle walked closer and Sam waited for a response. "We ask that you make an exception to the rule." Carlisle said calmly. "What kind of exception?" Sam asked concerned. "You allow us to bite one individual. We have a special request from someone that wants to be just like us." Carlisle admitted. "You want US to allow you to bite someone?" Sam asked appalled. "It's reasonable at this point. Otherwise the treaty is off." Carlisle threatened. Sam clenched his hands into a ball and grumbled. "Fine!" Sam agreed against his own will. Jacob flinched at the thought, but didn't say anything out loud. "We don't plan to kill the requester, so don't worry about that part." Carlisle assured them. "Are we done here?" Sam asked eager to leave at this point. "Yes we are. I'm hoping we don't have another meeting like this again." Carlisle said with a sincere tone. No one said anything beyond that as everyone began to depart. Myself included. We made it back to our place quickly as usual. Esme and Carlisle entered first and the rest of us followed. Rosalie was standing out back leaning on the railing and looking forward. Emmett walked himself to her side and they both began talking. Jasper and Alice went to sit in the living room. Esme and Carlisle stopped themselves from walking up to look directly at me. "Something on your mind, Edward?" Carlisle asked. I wasn't looking up at him at first, but I turned my attention to him when he asked.
"That was pretty crafty of you." I laughed lightly.
Carlisle smiled and waved his hand in the air. "I did it for Bella's interests and even your own." He admitted. "I guess you expect thanks from me?" I asked. "Not really. I'm surprised you aren't angry with me right now." Carlisle said calmly. "Bella has made it clear that I cannot change her mind on this, so getting angry would be pretty futile of me." I admitted blankly. Esme walked up to me and placed her arms on my shoulders. "It's not like she's leaving us. You should see it as a compliment that she wants to turn into us to be with you, always." Esme said kissing my forehead lightly and going back to Carlisle. "She has a point, you know. Bella wanting to do this means she truly desires to be with you forever." Carlisle said in agreement with Esme. "I'm still not very fond of the idea." I admitted. Carlisle nodded and Esme smiled at me. They both walked upstairs soon after. Alice got up from Jasper's side and walked up to me. "Shouldn't you be with Bella right now?" She asked.
"I guess I should be." I answered while turning to leave the house.
I opened the front door and walked out. Alice closed the door for me and I just sprinted towards Charlie's house. It didn't take me long to run up to Bella's window once more. I didn't see her inside the room, nor was she around Charlie as I read his mind. At this point, I just entered the room and leaned my back on the wall next to the window. The doorknob turned and Bella entered. Her eyes instantly locked onto where I was and she stood stiff in shock. "Don't worry. It's just me." I said smiling as I pushed myself slowly from the wall. "Oh." Bella said with a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind her. She turned around and I was instantly standing in front of her. She jumped and I grabbed her shoulders lightly. "I guess you're still traumatized by what happened before.' I sighed. Bella nodded and I let go of her shoulders. "Those guys are done. You don't need to worry about them anymore." I admitted. We stood there staring into each other's eyes before she decided to hug me. "Can you tell me what happened when you left?" She asked while pulling away lightly from me. "Fine. But we'll have to go to the bed. I don't think anyone would like standing for this." I said blankly. We both walked towards the bed, parted ways, and sat on each side facing each other. We didn't lie down, we just sat upright as Bella gazed at me with curious eyes. "So it appears those men that broke into this house have been killed." I said breaking the silence. Bella gave me a worried look. "I didn't kill them." I said calling out her face. "Then… who did?" She asked confused. "It was one of those wolves." I answered. "Jacob?" Bella asked with worry again. "No. He was with me with it occurred." I answered. "So who did?" She asked.
"It was Paul. Apparently one of the more lively of the bunch." I admitted.
"He killed those men?" Bella asked surprised, but she looked a bit satisfied at the results as her mood loosened up. "Yes. Two members of the pack had to make sure to handle his carelessness accordingly. Jacob and Sam both killed Paul." I said calmly. "They what!" Bella said loudly. "It was either death or Paul be removed from the pack. He made the choice and they had to enforce their rules." I added. "So… Jacob had to kill one of us own? How… sad." She was saddened at the thought. "When I left you to go talk to Carlisle, this information peaked his interests. We called a meeting between us and the wolves soon after." I said calmly. "A meeting for what? I thought you weren't supposed to step on their land?" She asked confused. "The treaty restricted us from doing that, yes. But when they killed humans, Carlisle saw fit to consult their behavior. Since we are restricted from harming any human ourselves, we felt betrayed of our efforts. The treaty was already hanging in the balance, so we stepped on their land with good reason." I said slightly irritated. "So… what happened at the meeting?" She asked concerned. "We were willing to let this go for a favor." I answered.
"Favor? What kind of favor?" She asked moving closer to me.
I didn't answer quickly. I just stared at her without expression before sighing and grabbing her hands. "Carlisle took charge of the situation and forced them to an agreement. He asked them to make an exception to the rule. He asked for us to be allowed the biting of one human." I said without expression. "One human?" She asked confused. "Yes one human… you." I said annoyed at the idea. "Carlisle… made them agree to let me become one of you?" She asked with slight enthusiasm. "I'm still not happy with the idea, but Carlisle said it was for optional purposes." I admitted. I let go of Bella's hands and sighed. She looked at me with a smile and hugged me. I returned the hug confused. "Thank you." She said happily. "It was Carlisle's decision. Thank him." I noted. "But you didn't object to his decision and I really appreciate that." She said pulling herself lightly from me and looking into my eyes. I smiled but not because of her appreciation. I started to finally appreciate what Carlisle and Esme said about Bella wanting to be one of us. Bella was serious about being with me forever… even at the cost of her own soul. I put my hands on the side of Bella's face and kissed her lightly. She kept her smile as I pulled away slowly. "I think it's time you went to sleep." I noted. Bella nodded as we broke free from our hug. She lied down and I did the same next to her. "Sleep well." I whispered to her. "I'll try." She said before closing her eyes. She fell asleep facing my body. I just stared at her beautiful face before turning my body to face the roof. She pressed her arm over my chest instinctively. I sighed and waited for her to wake up once more.