A/N: It's been so long since I last wrote, and I am terribly sorry for abandoning my stories for such a long time. My friends have encouraged me to continue writing, and reading some of the best fan fictions around here for the past few weeks have, somehow, encouraged me to pick up the pen (not literally, I'm a sucker for keyboards) to start writing again. Thank you all for reading this, and I really appreciate the reviews that have urged for me to continue. So, here you go, hope you all will like this!

D/C: If I own Twilight... Oh who am I kidding, I don't own Twilight, and I never will.

Word Count: 3079

Date Completed: 9 September 2011

Chapter 8: "What is she to me?"

Looking straight into Angela's intriguing black eyes, looking at the trust she had for me, and the curiosity was demanding answers, it was hard for one to not give in. Hence, I gave her the answer that she was requesting for, my voice loud and clear.

"Easy, we are vampires."

The second those words were out of my mouth, Angela's eyes widened and her heart skipped a beat. Her lips parted and we all waited for her to say something, but all she did was to close her mouth promptly, clearly in shock. That was understandable, since the possibility of us actually being immortals known for our thirst for human blood has not crossed her mind at all, in spite of the question that took the family off guard. Seconds passed, and we were all waiting for the girl to either suffer from an emotional break down, or to actually say something in response to what I have just told her. To be honest, even I was nervous, not really sure how she would take it and reluctant to tap into Alice's power to cheat.

It seemed as though hours have passed before the bespectacled girl turned to meet my eyes, her raven ones still slightly dilated from the shock that was slowly fading from her system.

"V - vampires, huh?" she stuttered, blinking rapidly as she forced those words out from her mouth.

Trying to channel some kind of comfort and reassurance from my gaze, I nodded slowly, slightly amused as the whole family reverted to the tense waiting mode, still anticipating some sort of extreme response. Most possibly ending with Angela screaming about blood sucking monsters and running out of the hospital, still screaming bloody murder. That was unlikely, and she took us by surprised as she let out a soft laugh, one that made me let out a sigh of relief.

"Am I in danger?" she enquired, and Esme was about to pacify her before realizing that it was an attempt at a joke to lighten the atmosphere up. It failed miserably, but I knew that things would not be taking a turn for the worse anytime soon.

I gave the girl a mocking frown, making seem as though I was contemplating her question, trying to come up with an answer that would not freak her out any further. Giving her a small grin, I replied, "That would depend on you, if you taste as good as you smell, there might not be enough of your blood for the eight of us to share."

All she did was to shake her head frantically, clutching a hand over her chest, faking a startled gasp as she tried reasoning with me, "I am sure that would not be the case. I assure you that my blood is nasty and foul tasting, you would get diarrhea - "

With that, the entire family burst into laughter, confusing the poor brunet. Emmett was almost ready to roll on the floor when I decided to take pity on the bewilderment that Angela was feeling.

"If we only feed on blood, do you really think we will have diarrhea?" I questioned, my lips curling upwards into a smile, very much tickled by her assumption, "You would need to work on your self defense skills some more, the way your logic works is not very convincing to these group of blood thirsty vampires."

She shook her head, giving me a sheepish smile while promising that she would definitely put a considerable amount of effort into working a valid argument and present her case to me when she was well prepared. Curious to see how she was coping with the brand new information that the Cullens and I were not mortal, I tapped into Jasper's empathetic ability, taking note of the fact that the teenager was calming down considerably.

For the next hour, the family was just sharing with Angela what our habits are and the reason behind us pretending to be a normal family instead of remaining secluded from civilization, very much unlike the Alaska coven. We were the ones contributing to most of the conversation, with Angela being the one taking everything in, nodding every now and then to indicate that she was not lost amongst the overwhelming pile of information that we were sharing. By the time we were done talking, it was not because everything was explained for, but because Angela was too tired to continue sitting there and listening to us. She insisted that she was fine, but we all knew otherwise.

Esme stood up and walked over to the black haired teen, taking her hand and with a soft smile, led her out of them room after we have decided that Angela did not need a night in the hospital. We could hear her stomach growling in hunger, much to the girl's mortification, and were pressing for her to get a bite or two in the hospital cafeteria. Knowing that the two of them would be absent long enough for the family to discuss the matter at hand, we wasted no time and started talking. They were very curious as to why I had approached the girl, and also what made me so keen to get the entire family to accept her and actually adopt her into our coven by scent. There was no doubt that in a short span of a couple of hours, everyone has taken to Angela to a certain extent, and we would hate to let go and deny her a safe haven with us from now on.

It was rare, I know, for everyone to trust a human so much. Jasper, Rosalie and Edward were the ones who were constantly wary of the mortals, Jasper due to his wary nature and his upbringing as an alert and defensive soldier, Rosalie due to her more than unpleasant experience with the sick bastards who violated her, and Edward due to his power to see the secrets and lies that everyone keeps and the fact that he was the eldest son in the family, and automatically took on the role of protecting the family, ranking only second after Carlisle.

One part of me was touched that they took to Angela so quickly because I trusted her, and their trust in me as a new addition to the family and Edward's mate was already so deep and strong that they failed to question my judgement and gave the situation a shot. Rosalie, especially, for we all knew that the blonde was very much hostile to human beings, never shy to openly show her disdain towards them. Yet, she was calm and was the second, after me, to bring Angela under her wings. My eyes met hers at the moment and my instincts guided me to tap into Edward's ability and entered Rosalie's mind. Once again, her blurry but deeply-etched memories of being continuously violated by the cold-hearted bastard in the past filled me with undisguised anger, and only the warmth of Edward's hand on mine kept me in check. She nodded, silently urging for me to continue looking into her mind, and I knew that it was best to keep it between the two of us. Knowing that Edward wouldn't mind, I carefully placed a mental block around Rosalie's mind and mine, entering a conversation that only involved us two.

Everyone remained silent and watchful as Rosalie's and my eyes remained locked intensely, curious but keeping their emotions in check for it was clearer than ever that we had to do this alone.

"Bella," she started, and I waited for her to continue.

"We have to take her in," she continued, and if anyone else could hear it, they would have deemed Rosalie as insane. She has never liked humans, let alone initiate a new member in the family. She was more than happy with how the family was, and she was fiercely protective of keeping their identity under the wraps. As fragile as she was, the determination within her was as strong as ever, she was both sides of the coin, choosing only to show that strength to us.

"We have to take her in," she whispered, the exact same words now directed at herself. I was not meant to hear them. This time, they were meant as a promise that she was making. Looking up at me, the fire was back in her eyes, along with the broken girl from the 90s, one whose innocence and dreams were cruelly torn and shred into pieces by the the bane of existence, the filth of human kind. Standing in front of me was not just Rosalie Lilian Cullen, there was also Rosalie Lillian Hale, the girl who once longed for love that seemed to be so out of reach.

"Please?"

Her eyes were both firm and sad, and she was pleading with me, desperate for me to nod and go with her wish. Not wanting her to continue thinking that I was against that idea, I took a step forward and took her hands in mine, my eyes brimming with unshed tears that prickled, urging for me to let my emotions go. I could not do such a thing, I had to be strong for Rosalie, for my sister and for the rest of the family, Angela included. The last part of my thoughts were projected to the beautiful blonde in front of me, and I felt my breath catch as she let out the most brilliant smile as of yet, almost blinding me with it. Letting my body shift into one of a human once more, the tears finally rejoiced as they slid down my cheeks. Taking a step back, I dropped the connection I shared with Rosalie, with our conversation coming to an conclusion. She was still smiling as Emmett pulled her into a hug, and as Edward pulled me into his arms, offering support as I cried and smile at the same time.

"How do we go about doing this?" I spoke, my voice trembling slightly before I cleared my throat, not wanting my tears to ruin the seriousness of our meeting. With a benign smile, Carlisle went over to his shelf and took out a folder, one that documented the laws that would be advantageous for the hospital in a lawsuit against child abuse and in this case, rape. That part was easy, we knew that, it was the part of getting Angela into our family that would troublesome.

"Releasing her from her parent's guardianship would be easy, as long as she leaves a written account of all that she has been through and the hospital provides medical records on her injuries, and perhaps if Bella leaves an account as the one to find her in the toilet, and also as a witness of some sort," Carlisle started, with us hanging to his words, eyes glazing with anticipation and tension as to what the near future will hold, "Getting her into our care and guardianship would not be as hard as you imagine it'd be, as long as Angela agrees and we provide proofs that we are more than capable of supporting another person in the family."

The humans were easy to pacify and convince, that much was clear.

"The Quileute tribe," Jasper inserted, voicing our main concern. In actual fact, that was our only concern.

Emmett took a step forward, his eyes excited, as he spoke, "Screw the Quileutes, we can take them on if that's they want! It is not as if we fear them!"

Carlisle gave the youngest vampire a frown, evidently not agreeable with his son's attitude about this. Before he could say anything, I decided to step in. "Emmett, we have a truce, and we will not be the one to break it," his grin fell as I tried to get my point across, "We will take a step back if that is what it takes. I am pretty sure we are willing to do more than that for Angela."

Everyone nodded in agreement, with Emmett looking slightly confused before understanding what I was trying to say, hastily nodding before anyone could pick on his lack of tact and eagerness for some blood and gore. "We can always move to Alaska or - somewhere," Rosalie said, faltering slightly when the rest of the family turned to look at her in ill-disguised shock.

She took a brief second to gather her wits and raised her chin higher, "Well, it is an option we can consider." Her voice was sharp and haughty once more, and I could not help but give her a soft smile before taking the attention off her.

"Rose is right, we can move. The Quileutes can't do a thing to us even if we leave with Angela," I gathered, my eyes hardening slightly as I said the next part, "Even if they come after us, I'll make sure that they won't even be able to touch us."

I did not care for petty truces and the pathetic caution that those wolves had against vampires, but if they were so narrow-minded that they could not see the good that the Cullens have been, there was no use trying to convince them otherwise by forcing ourselves to thread gently and carefully around them. If they come after my family, no matter what my morals and beliefs are, no matter the years I have gone by without hurting anyone, I will destroy them.

Renee was right. When it comes to family and mates, there is nothing we wouldn't do. We would kill and be killed for them, no matter the consequences, and it was overwhelming for me to be experiencing such strong emotions centuries after I have been turned.

There was a long drag of silence after I have spoken, with everyone pondering over my words and the possibilities. Explanation for our move, our next location and our next identities, and how life with Angela joining us will be different.

By the time Esme returned with the girl, we have planned things out and when asked, only gave our human concern a smile, not answering the question. She wanted answers, but something about the secrecy and caution that we were wrapped up in made her swallow her curiosity. Edward rolled his eyes at Alice's excited expression before turning to me, his voice a mere whisper to Angela as he told me that the pixie was already planning shopping trips for everything that Angela will need once she moved in with us. Not bothering to hide my amusement, I gave the petite girl a grin before giving Angela a pitying look. She would not know what hit her once she was strapped up in the car, heading to the mall. With things being handled and resolved for now, Carlisle decided that we should be heading home before anyone come in to enquire what we were doing in the room. Nodding in approval, we all stood up from our seats and made our way to the door, with Esme staying back with Carlisle for him to explain to her our decisions. She would be delighted to have another daughter, I thought, knowing that Angela would become one of the most precious member of the family. She was a soft spoken girl, curious but sensible, and she has never gotten on the Cullen siblings' nerves. With her camera and her world of creativity, she stayed out of the limelight and would have been a nameless outcast if not for the fact that Jessica had dragged her into their pathetic "popular" clique in the first place.

Thinking about those two girls got me riled up once more, and I was somewhat satisfied with the damage that I have inflicted on them. It wasn't hard for me to kick their slutty asses, even with me in my human form, but it was pleasant to know that they were both nursing injuries and most likely in great pain. Whinny brats, I sneered, somewhat glad that we would actually be moving. Forks was nice, but the townspeople were too gossipy and boring. "Perhaps if we return to this place years later, it would be much more pleasant than this," I muttered, and everyone nodded, with us still walking towards the parking lot at human pace. Rosalie was holding onto Angela, not talking, but I could tell that she was providing Angela some kind of comfort, even though the human did not know it.

It would be a very long time before we can return to this place, at least a hundred plus years. That was the reason why the Cullens tried to stay at one place for as long as they could. It was so uninteresting, I knew that, but it was the price that they would pay in order to have a normal life and not lose what's left of their interaction with humans and connection to the society...

A/N: So, this is it for now! I'm still really caught up with school, especially with the end of year examinations coming up, so I doubt I can edit my chapters/update every other day. At least one chapter a week? How does that sound?

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