Carlisle

Edward and Bella were home again before we arrived.

"How was your day?" Bella was in the living room.

"It was fun." Esme sat down. "Yours?"

She didn't reply to that. "Did you spend all of Carlisle's money?"

"Don't bring that up. She feels really guilty." I sat down beside Esme. "Where's Edward?"

"Upstairs." She answered flatly. Her mood, that seemed light a minute ago, turned. She looked pissed.

Esme noticed, "Well, I am going to fold some laundry." She walked upstairs quickly.

I moved next to Bella. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine."

"Bella, please don't lie to me."

She closed her eyes before turning her head the opposite way. "We had a fight, that's all."

"Care to expand on that? You are very upset, I can see it."

"The pack is having a party tomorrow night and Jacob invited all of us."

"So?"

"So, I don't want to go, but Edward thinks I do. He thinks I still love Jacob. I never loved Jacob. So we got into an argument about it and it just kept getting worse before I walked out."

"You forgot the other part." Edward said, standing in the doorway. Neither of us had noticed him. "That wasn't all of it."

"Yeah, we moved on to a different topic to fight about after I came back."

"Do I want to know what that topic may have been?"

"No." Bella shook her head.

"She wants to leave." Edward told me.

"Why does everyone want to leave lately?" I asked myself. "Why do you want to leave?" I turned to Bella.

She was glaring at Edward. "I just…want a change."

"Bullshit." He snapped. "Do you have any idea just how much that would kill Carlisle and Esme? Jasper and Rosalie? Alice and Emmett? Me? Do you understand the danger you want to put yourself into?"

"He is not dangerous!"

"He is!"

"Who?" I interrupted.

"Austin." Bella answered, still looking at Edward.

"Oh Bella, no. He is dangerous. What he does is dangerous. Everything about him is dangerous."

"See?" Edward spoke quieter.

Esme walked downstairs quietly and stood behind me.

"How is he dangerous?" She asked.

"You know how…"

"No! I don't! He helped Rose, and he didn't hurt her."

"He did hurt her. Once he finds things out about you, he will use them against you. It's exactly what he did to Rose, and he will do it to you as well."

"How did he use them against her?"

"Bella, he knew her weaknesses after looking into her past for her. He found that abuse was a big part of her life, and he knew that she would do anything to stop that from happening to her again or her family." I spoke quieter.

I realised now that Bella never knew about this. "I don't understand…" She looked confused.

I took in a quiet breath. Would Rosalie want her to know?

"He took advantage of me…" She startled Bella, Esme and myself. We hadn't noticed her in the doorway. Emmett was behind her with Jasper and Alice.

"I thought you were in Canada…" She said.

"We changed our minds. And Alice saw you deciding to go to Austin despite what Edward or dad told you, so I figured I would tell you myself.

"Bella, Austin forced information out of me about our family, and he used abuse to get in. He hates us after what happened to his family. He wants to end ours. He despises dad for having 3 children that all love him, and that are all still alive. He wanted, and probably still wants to see dad suffer the way he did. To watch his children die right in front of him. He almost killed me, but Jasper tracked me down at a very convenient time." Rosalie didn't seem affected by the memories anymore.

Bella was still confused. "He had kids?"

"Four. They were never around Austin, they hated him. They ended up hunting in a small area, and they were putting our kind at risk, so they Volturi killed them. Austin saw us, all happily together, never getting irritated or angry with dad, and it fuelled hatred. He envy's dad, but if he gets another chance, he will kill us for his own satisfaction; to see dad crumble just like he did." Jasper explained.

Bella didn't know what to say. She sat down. "Why did no one ever tell me?"

"I was going to the other day, but there was never a right time." Jasper claimed.

"The last time any of us saw him was about 5 years ago. Why would you suddenly think to tell me now?"

"Well…I was meant to speak with dad first…but…he's been close recently." He admitted.

I heard Rosalie let out a shaky breath. She was still terrified of him. "Why didn't you say anything?" She choked out.

"Because I was going to tell dad first, but he has been really busy lately and I didn't want to worry him. Alice and I were trying to find the right time to do it."

"Did you know?" Rosalie asked Edward.

He hesitated, "Umm…well I knew Jasper caught his scent, but I didn't know where, or that it was this close to the house…"

"How close to the house?" Rosalie raised her voice in panic.

"He closest I found was at the end of the driveway, and across the river…" Jasper shrunk.

Rosalie started to breathe heavily and shake. I rushed to her side and pulled her into my arms. "It's okay, Rose. He won't get near you, I promise. Steady your breathing. I'll find him." I kissed the top of her head and she eventually slowed her breaths and the shaking died down after a few minutes.

"He'll kill you…" She whispered, still in my arms.

"No, he won't."

"He's stronger."

"Will you come?" I asked Edward through my thoughts. He nodded when I looked at him.

He turned and made eye contact with Emmett, who nodded as well. "I'm in." He agreed; his voice hard.

"Emmett and Edward will come."

"I will too." Jasper said.

"No." Bella answered immediately. "Rosalie is emotional at the moment, leaving her unable to fight at full capacity. Alice, Esme and I definitely can't take him on, even all at once. He is too strong for any 4 of us. One of you needs to stay to protect them."

"And you." I included quietly, reminding her that she was just as important. She was like me in that aspect, always putting others before herself.

Edward snickered, "Of course you would want to ask him…" He said to Bella. She must have let her shield down.

"Oh, get over it! I would like my family safe, and if I have to ask him to help, then I will." Bella defended.

"What?" Rosalie asked.

"I will ask Jacob if the pack can help. They can track or guard the house. Either works." Bella said.

"Just a minute ago you were saying he wasn't dangerous." Edward said.

"That was when I thought I knew him. Now I believe he is." She said before she stood and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Jasper asked.

"To the reservation."

"No you're not. You are just as much of a target as Rosalie or me. Ask them to come to us. No one leaves the house unless to hunt, and we all go hunt at the same time."

"We're not in danger…" Alice said, referring to Esme, Emmett, Edward and herself.

"You are. He knows that you four have become a part of our lives. He will not hesitate." I disagreed.

"The Denali's. He knows that they have connections with us. They're in danger too." Rosalie said.

"I'll call them." Jasper said, pulling his phone out and walking towards the kitchen. Alice followed him, finding protection in his presence. She had been unusually quiet the whole time and she looked more worried than scared.

"Jasper's right. No one leaves the house. We hunt together. Bella, can you please call Jacob and ask if Sam is able to come over here?" I asked.

She nodded and walked into a different room with her phone. Edward took an irritated breath.

"Edward, she would never have started dating you if she still loved him, and I can tell you now that she has no intention of leaving you." I assured. He nodded and walked into the room that she had.

"Should I close the windows?" Rosalie asked.

I nodded and she walked out quickly, pulling Emmett with her.

"Close the windows?" Esme asked softly. She was so quiet and still that I had almost forgotten that she was here. I realise that she was probably extremely scared too.

"Decades ago there was a small group of vampires who tried to attack us. I installed an extremely thick sheet of tungsten to drop over the windows for that little bit of extra protection for them." The room started to get darker as the sheet rolled over the windows of the room. I turned the light on and walked over to Esme.

"I don't want you to go out looking for him…" She finally spoke.

"I have to. Edward and Emmett will be with me. We'll take a few wolves and leave the rest here with Jasper to protect you and the girls. Nothing is going to happen to me or them or you." I assured, though I wasn't totally convinced. Austin was just as strong as Emmett, if not stronger. It would be difficult to defeat him, but we had motive. However, he did too.

She placed a soft kiss on my lips and I wrapped my arms around her. I felt a small amount of tension lift off her shoulders as she let out a breath. She felt safe in my arms.

We were silent for a while before she broke it, "It's going to kill Alice to not be able to go shopping…"

I laughed, "It'll kill all of us, being cooped up in here together…" She laughed too.

She sighed and pulled away. She sat down on one of the couches and pulled me down with her. Then she put her legs up and rested her head on my shoulder. I breathed in her sweet scent and stroked up and down her arm.

Rosalie and Emmett came in a few minutes after. "Do you mind if we stay in here with you guys? I would rather be with as many people as possible at one time right now."

"Sure, sweetheart." I motioned for them to sit down. Esme wasn't making a sound. Her eyes remained closed.

"She looks like she's sleeping…" Rosalie whispered.

"I wish…" She replied.

Jasper and Alice walked in then. "They're coming down here as soon as possible. They want to help out, and Eleazar wants the girls to be as safe as they can get. I said it was alright. They just have to wait for Tanya to get back to them. She left the other day."

I nodded in agreement.

We heard Bella and Edward arguing quietly when the room fell silent. Alice and Jasper sat down too and we positioned similar to Esme and I.

After a few minutes of quiet bickering, they walked back out into the living room. "Well, you all look pretty at ease considering the circumstances…" Edward said.

"We're safe for now." Esme said softly.

"I told Jake over the phone. They're in. He told you to call them with the time and place for when you are ready to organise a strategy." Bella told me.

"Okay." I nodded.

They sat down beside Alice and Jasper. "So, what are we—"

"Shhh…" Esme cut Edward off. She still hadn't moved a centimetre, and her eyes were still closed.

Bella laughed quietly at him. Edward rolled his eyes and kissed Bella's cheek.