I stepped back into my room, letting my whole family come inside without another word. We embraced, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett. It wasn't long before their curious eyes noticed Bella. I was sure they smelled her first seeing as her scent had more or less pervaded the air.

"Keep your hand down Bella," I warned. She nodded, and bit her lip. She was nervous.

"Bella, this is my family," I said, and then proceeded to introduce each one of them to her. She nodded in greeting. She was stranded sitting on the bed.

"Why wont she get up?" Emmett asked me in a whisper.

"She…got hurt earlier. Her hand is cut. It would be a bad idea for her to expose it, believe me."

Does he know from personal experience?

Someone was thinking about her, and thinking about me. Us. Together. Intimately. I shook my head.

"It's not like that at all," I said sternly, turning to Emmett from who's mind the thoughts had come tumbling.

"Whoops. Sorry Edward I just…forgot that you can hear things like that…it's a little creepy you know."

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Bella," Carlisle said gracefully. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"You as well," she managed to say. I didn't think Carlisle realized her was dazzling her.

Is she the one? Carlisle thought at me. I nodded just the slightest bit, noticeable to the family but not to Bella. I didn't want her thinking we were having a conversation without her knowledge. Even though we were.

"Did you happen to bring your medical supplies with you Carlisle?" I asked. If he could properly bandage her cut hand I would appreciate it. I didn't want a little scratch like that getting infected.

"Of course," he said, going over to the bag of luggage he brought. He pulled out the black medical bag and rifled though it. I looked over at Bella. She was talking to my sister Alice. I could tell Alice already liked her. Bella looked over at me and blushed furiously, noticing my staring. I honestly couldn't help myself. Alice looked to me as well, grinning at me like she knew something I didn't. Which, because it was Alice, I was sure she did.

"Bella, Edward asked if I could take a look at your hand. If you don't mind I would like to do that now. We have some…things to discuss later, important things."

I had explained the past of my family, including Carlisle's training as a doctor. She nodded. She was no longer nervous. I could see it in the ease of her smile.

"Come, everyone else in the hall," I said. Everyone followed me out and waited with me. I could have listened to Carlisle and Bella's easy conversation but I tuned out.

"So have you two, you know…" Emmett trailed off suggestively.

"Is that all you think about? Honestly Emmett nothing has changed about you."

"You didn't answer my question," he replied. I growled.

Okay okay! My God, calm down…I bet they have…

I clenched my jaw but remained stoic.

"She is very pretty Edward," Esme said quietly.

"Yes, she is," I answered. There was obvious approval in her tone and I was glad of that. But…I was already thinking too far ahead. We had to get through the hurdle of her changing, of her fate in the near future before we started planning anything else. Although Aro did say she could be mine. And now that I knew that she would want me, she already did want me. Well, I wouldn't argue.

Edward? Alice's voice came to me through her thoughts. I looked to her.

I have…seen things. About you, and her. Would you like to see them?

I thought long and hard. Alice's visions were based on the decisions that were made each moment, so they were ever changing. Did I want to see something that could be different in five minutes?

I nodded my head.

The visions hit me hard, as I remembered they always had. Seeing a vision second hand was bad enough, I couldn't imagine what Alice went through.

The first was of Bella changing. I could tell just by the pained expression on her face. She was screaming. That vision quickly shifted to the next. Bella was very much human, but she was dying. Her blood was everywhere. She wasn't screaming in this one, but it was almost as painful to see. In the next one she was already dead.

But then the morbid themes of the visions completely changed. Bella was laughing, running somewhere, and tugging me along. Then she was lying in the middle of a hardwood floor, reading a book, and twirling her hair about before looking up. And then the most wonderful vision I had ever seen or experienced.

Bella was sleeping peacefully. It was something I recognized after watching her sleep the night before. But there was a subtle difference. She was curled in my embrace, holding herself close to me. She sighed, my name coming off her lips as it had last night. She was so beautiful. I couldn't imagine holding her like that, getting to be so close to her. Then the visions stopped.

"Thank you Alice," I said, shaking the memory of the visions from my mind. The bad ones—her screaming in pain, her already dead—haunted my mind far more than the good ones. I was about to ask Alice which of the visions was the most recent when Carlisle called to us. He was all done bandaging Bella.

We went back into my chambers and this time Bella was standing. There was gauze on her hand. Whatever Carlisle had done was far better than my impromptu bed sheet bandage. The smell of her blood, though still there, was nowhere near as strong.

"So Edward, we need to talk," Carlisle said. I nodded. I was about to suggest we leave the room to go speak in private when I realized it would do no good to keep anything secret. The family was here; they would know everything that was happening. And this all really revolved around Bella; I would feel bad if I left her out.

We all took a seat. Bella and I sat on the edge of my bed. Alice and Jasper sat on the couch near the bookcase. Emmett and Rose sat on the sofa near that, and Esme leaned against the chair Carlisle was sitting in.

"So what exactly is going on here?" Carlisle asked. I explained the situation. The Volturi had ordered me to change Bella. I had some time to play with but not much. And now…I didn't want to take away her humanity. I wanted for her to stay human. No matter how much I wanted her, no matter how good the idea of having her all to myself for the rest of eternity sounded, I was not willing to be selfish and take away her life. I did not say this to my family. But I knew.

I was already in love with her.

"Well this is quite the predicament we have Edward. If Aro has told you he wants you to do something, it is unwise to disobey him," Carlisle pointed out.

"I know. And I don't want to just…give her up to one of the others." I had not told them about earlier, or the fact that Bella was very nearly violated while I was in the other room. I didn't know if Carlisle had asked her what had happened to her hand while he was helping her. If he knew, he certainly didn't bring it up.

"Well Edward I think the first thing we need to do is speak to Aro. He was the one who as so interested in her; perhaps he will understand your…interest in her as well. If you show him."

"I," my words were suddenly broken off. Bella's hand was rubbing small circles on my back, her fingers tracing patterns, burning through the fabric. I could hardly think while she was doing that, not to mention speak.

"I think perhaps you are right," I offered, not saying anything else for the moment. Carlisle started talking about how Aro had wanted to see them anyways. I was trying to concentrate. I really was. But she kept touching me. The smile on her face was one of quiet and knowing satisfaction.

Carlisle was about to say something and it was going to be important. I took her hand in mine and removed it from the spot it had been on my back. I didn't want to push her way, but for the moment it was necessary.

"I think now would be as good a time as any to find him. The sooner we straighten this out the better," he suggested, standing. I was about to say something, but completely forgot what it was as Bella's hand returned to tracing hot patterns onto my back.

"Edward, were you going to say something?" Esme asked politely. I opened my mouth again, attempting to create sounds, something like words strung together in a cohesive fashion to communicate what I wanted. But then she slipped her fingers under my shirt, the burning only more intense and wonderful. I reached behind me again, and since everyone was looking at me, everyone noticed.

"Could you stop doing that? For just one moment? I can't think when you do that," I said to her as quietly as I could manage. It didn't matter. Everyone in the room heard me. Bella smiled and blushed, looking at her feet. She didn't like being caught and exposed to the whole room. Well I didn't like looking like an idiot so we were even.

"I was going to say that someone needs to stay here to watch over Bella."

"Don't they have people to do that?" Rose asked, almost irritated. I stared back at her, noticing the strange expression on her face. It was somewhere between bored and annoyed.

"Yes they do. I don't trust them."

"Fair enough. I will stay," Esme said quietly.

"Why don't I get to go?" Bella inquired. She directed the question was drected at me but Carlisle answered.

"I think Aro would find it distasteful to see you human. He has asked Edward to do a job for him. He expects it to be done. If Edward were to bring you, to flaunt your being alive, it might cause problems."

She nodded, trying to understand. She was not eager to see Aro again either. I remembered the sheer terror in her eyes when she overheard Felix saying Aro gave me permission to have her. Was it because it had been Aro that she was frightened, or was it me? Was she so afraid of that now?

"Besides, you haven't slept. Get some rest," I ordered softly. She shrugged, but I saw the weariness in her actions. Carlisle led everyone who was going to see Aro and the others out the door. Esme rested in the chair behind her.

"Edward?" Bella said as I turned from her. I spun back around to face her. She smiled at me again. My heart—the figurative one of course—caught in my throat. She had no idea what she did to me.

"Once more?" she asked. For a moment I didn't know what she was talking about. But the smile in her eyes gave it away a moment later. I wanted to kiss her again—God knows I wanted nothing more—but my whole family as there, watching and waiting. I wasn't necessarily embarrassed by the idea of kissing her in front of them, I just didn't think it was an appropriate tine or place.

"Later Bella," I said, equivocating. She sighed and pouted a little, but then turned and went to get into bed. I left her there with Esme. I knew that she would be safe. It was so nice, wonderful even, to have my family around again. It was another one of those moments when I didn't even know why I bothered to leave in the first place. They obviously cared for me, and I for them. Why should I not go where I belonged? But could I convince Aro and the others to let me leave? Could I bring Bella along? Somehow I thought that no matter how much they had come to like me it would not be as simple as I wanted.

"So this Bella," Carlisle said, "what is she to you?"

I paused here. I didn't know how to answer that question. She was…

"I don't think I can answer that Carlisle. I can't think of words that even come close to describing it. I feel…idiotic because I have known her for such a short amount of time. But…when she looks at me…" I shook my head. Carlisle laughed.

"That is enough for me Edward. You obviously care for her. Enough to call me and risk upsetting the Volturi, and that is saying a lot. You know they might not take kindly to you simply inviting us here."

"I know that. But I had to do something. If in the end, we have no other choice, Bella has agreed to be changed without a fight."

"Than why don't we do that?" Rose asked form behind me. I sighed.

"I don't want to change her Rose. I don't want to take away one of the most wonderful things about her."

Their thoughts all mixed together, each of them coming to the conclusion that I was in this far deeper than I was letting on. I didn't simply care for her. They knew it. I knew it. I didn't know if Bella had figured it out yet, but I was sure she soon would.

But there I was, thinking too far ahead again. I needed to deal with the present, the fact that at the moment I was going to try and convince my "bosses" and Bella put it, to let me go home. And take her with me.

When we stepped into the hall I could already hear the thoughts of the room buzzing excitedly. Aro was pleased. He was excited to see Carlisle again.

"Carlisle! My dear old friend how wonderful to see you! And your family is here as well, how interesting. Your mate is…" Aro said quickly.

"Upstairs. She chose to remain in Edward's rooms."

"Of course. And you will all be given chambers, no worries about that. So, what brings you to Volterra?"

"My son," Carlisle stated simply. He then looked to me and nodded. I knew what he wanted me to do.

"Aro, there are some things I feel I must share with you," I said reluctantly. I wasn't sure I was ready for him to know these things about me, about Bella. I hadn't let him read me since I got here, even though I knew he desperately wanted to. I was an enigma, a puzzle. But he respected me enough not to force me.

"Go right ahead Edward," he said. I shook my head.

"You need to…know them for yourself," I explained. He suddenly realized what I meant. I went to him, and held out my hand. One of his fingers pressed against my palm, like a strange greeting. I saw the look of amazement on his face as he explored each and every one of my thoughts. Everything he saw and heard was reflected back through his mind, so I knew what he was seeing as he did. When it got to the things about Bella I cringed.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, experiencing for himself the first shock of her, feeling what I felt for her every minute that had passed. He laughed when he saw me tossing Felix out the window through my eyes. When he got to my last memory he pulled his hand back and stared at me, like suddenly I was more confusing than ever.

"Well Edward, this certainly does cause some problems."

AN: MWAHAHAHA...