Bella.

I was making an effort. It was half-hearted, but it was something. The majority of the days and nights were still spent locked up in Edward's room, but I would drift downstairs from time to time to make an appearance. Esme, Carlisle and Emmett were very pleased with my attempt to get better. I noticed the mood change in them immediately, and felt a small bit of contentness that I was at least more pleasant to be around. Of course, the absence of Edward was still extremely painful, and it didn't help that Alice had decided to disappear as well. It's been about a week since I've seen her. She and Jasper never returned home that quiet day that I had ruined Esme's cushions, which had already been replaced. She called me a few times a day to chat aimlessly. According to her, Jasper was feeling very distressed by all of the emotions in the house (and reassured me countless times that it was not my fault) and needed a small break away from Forks. I miss her terribly, but there was a difference between her absence and Edward's. I knew she was coming back to me.

I heard the clicking of the television from downstairs, before a rumble of applause erupted. Emmett's howling hoots disrupted the once calm volume of the household, and I winced. I pulled myself away from the couch, and my eyes glanced at the clock on the wall. 6:21. Might as well join Emmett for awhile before I felt the need to wallow in my own self-pity again. I straightened out my clothing, which consisted of jeans, and another one of Edward's button down t-shirts, and jogged downstairs. Emmett grinned at the sight of me, and patted the spot on the couch next to him.

"Where's Rosalie?" I asked, glancing at the television. I recognized that the uniforms the players were wearing belonged to the sport of football. I watched as a man dressed in white and orange ran down the green field. Emmett pulled his eyes away from the game, and sighed.

"Shopping with Esme. She says it's nice to visit the mall without Alice for a change. Much more relaxing."

I felt a pang of jealousy as I soaked in his words. Sure, I was more pleasant, but not enough to accompany them to the mall. Rosalie and I had spoken a few days ago, and she apologized for her behavior. Neither of us brought up anything from before my transformation, and for that, I was glad. I knew my anger was on edge lately, and it would take some stupid comment about my former life to make me explode like I did before. Still, we were civil and finally began to acknowledge each other's presence; I would've thought she'd be considerate enough to invite me on their outing.

"A few things, Bella. One, you hate shopping. Two, you haven't been wearing anything that hasn't been worn by him. Three, you're a newborn vampire who hasn't succumbed the desire to feast on human beings. Stop being jealous, you idiot," Emmett joked. I immediately relaxed with his words. I guess I was being a tad bit ridiculous. I had never been this needy to anybody except Edward before. But now that he was gone, I was willing to cling to anybody that would have me, including Rosalie.

"YES!" Emmett wailed loudly, standing up and throwing his arms out in victory from a goal in the game. I winced from the loudness of his tone, but even more at the shattered vase that now lay in pieces on the floor. I bit my lip to muffle my laughter, but he saw my lips turning at the corners. He groaned.

"Esme is going to kill me!"

"Technically-" I began, but he huffed loudly. I smiled and shut my mouth immediately. He sighed dramatically, and took a step towards the kitchen. I placed my hand out in front of him.

"I'll clean it up. You sit here and watch the game. But keep your arms at your sides, okay? They're bigger than you think," I stated. He rolled his eyes at me, but gave me a grin. I turned my heel, avoiding the scattered glass and stepped into the kitchen. I walked past the counter and grabbed the broom and dustpan, when something caught my eye. I stopped, and picked up today's newspaper. The broom and dustpan fell out of my hands, and noisily clanked onto the tile floor. My breath came out in a sharp, loud gasp as I clutched the newspaper harder, eyeing the story on the front page.

'Town mourns Swan's death'

My eyes were wide as they scanned over the article. It talked about how I ran away from the Cullen's household after an argument with Edward, and was attacked by a wild animal. Of course, they didn't leave out the fact that Edward fled Forks, which just made this entire article harder to comprehend. I followed the Times New Roman script to where it ended, trailing to a caption of a large picture. I let out a choked cry when I saw the picture, and immediately dropped the paper to the floor. I slapped my hand over my mouth to quiet my sobs, and bent to my knees, closing my eyes to escape the image that was now in my head.

Charlie and Jacob hugging. They were holding each other tight, and Charlie's face was dug into Jake's shoulder. They were in pain. Because of me.

"Oh god," I sobbed, and slid to the linoleum floor. I felt warm hands on my shoulders. They grasped my tiny forearms, and pulled me up. I wrapped my arms around Emmett's torso, and found myself dry-sobbing once more.

"Edward .. Jasper .. Ch-Charlie and Jake! I've hurt them all. I'm- I'm-" I was mumbling into his chest, trying to form decent sentences. His hand was rubbing my back in soothing circles, and surprisingly, I felt myself calming down. His hands moved to my waist, and he hoisted me up. I opened my eyes and realized I was sitting on the countertop. I leaned my head back against the cupboards, and closed my eyes again. I missed sleeping so much. Though I did way too much of it as a human, it was a way to escape everything, and if there were ever a time I wish I could lay in a peaceful slumber, it was now.

I heard the front door open, and after a few seconds, it closed. Loud, quick footsteps tapped amongst the floor until I heard them right next to me. The scent changed, and I knew Emmett was no longer alone. A pair of unfamiliar arms wrapped around me, and I inhaled the scent. Rosalie?

I was hesitant at first, but I laid my head against her shoulder.

"Is that where you all were that day? My funeral?" I asked weakly, after a few minutes of comfortable silence. I opened my eyes, and looked at her topaz eyes. She gave me a small smile, and nodded. I felt dumb, but nodded back. I heard a feminine sigh from behind Rose, and turned to see Esme. She grinned at me, and I returned it, suddenly feeling better.

"How was your shopping trip?"

They exchanged glances, before grinning at me again. I suddenly felt nervous. I remembered this kind of nervousness. It was always after Alice returned home from the mall. I accumulated quite a lot of fancy, non-Bella clothes after that.

"Well, we did get you something-" Esme began, and I immediately groaned out of habit. I heard a booming laugh, and turned to see Emmett standing in the doorway. Carlisle was next to him, arms crossed over his chest as he leaned against the wall. I wondered what the special occasion was. Why did they all have to watch as I was forced to accept clothes that I'll never wear?

"Emmett, hush. And hey, I want that vase replaced," she scolded, before turning back to me. "We didn't get you clothing, dear. I think this is something you'll love. I'm hoping, actually."

"Alice didn't want us to give it to you until she was home, but I think we can make an exception," Rosalie said, grinning as she reached into her oversized designer handbag. I studied the faces of the vampires before me, suddenly suspicious. Bright, beaming smiles were placed on all four of their faces. I raised my eyebrow, and opened my mouth to interrogate, when Rosalie shoved a long, blue velvet box into my hand. I gasped, knowing that it was jewelry.

"Come on, I don't think-" I began.

"Just open it, Bella," Carlisle requested politely. I eyed him for a second, before turning my attention back to the damned blue box in my hand. If I didn't want to wear their expensive clothing, what gave them the idea that I'd want expensive jewelry? I winced as my fingers pried open the box. It opened, and I brought it closer to examine what was inside. I gasped, for what seemed to be the millionth time today.

If I could shed tears, I would be. Sitting neatly inside the velvet box, was a necklace. It's chain was long, and sterling silver. What had me so emotional, was the charm that was attached to the chain. It was pewter, and in the shape of a heart. The overall heart was dark gray. A silver lion-like animal dominated the space. It sat perched on a small ribbon at the bottom that sheltered three dark gray shamrocks. Above the lion's head was a hand. I knew this image very well. It was the Cullen crest.

Each of the Cullen's wore some form of jewelry that carried the crest. Jasper, Emmett and Edward had black wrist cuff's that they wore. Esme wore a stunning bracelet. Carlisle had the crest on a large ring on his right hand. Alice wore her crest on a unique choker, and Rosalie wore a long necklace that held a large cameo of the crest. For the first time since my transformation, I felt happy. It was something that they did to represent their family. And they wanted me to be a part of it.

Edward.

"I'm going to hurt them!" Alice gasped loudly, startling both Jasper and I. We had been sitting in my cramped up apartment for about a week now, just relaxing. Alice and Jasper were both very careful with their thoughts. I hadn't seen Bella in a single one of them .. until now. The image filled my head of Esme helping Bella clasp a necklace around her neck. I didn't get a chance to see what was connected to the chain, but from the sounds of Alice's protests, it was something important. Alice's phone began to ring loudly. She had it to her ear within seconds.

"You will all be very sorry," she spoke evilly, slowing each word for dramatic effect. "I told you to wait until we got back!"

"She needed it. Did you not vision her picking up the newspaper? She saw a picture of her funeral. It was Charlie and Jacob. She completely lost it. It was the only thing I could think of to make her feel better," Emmett spoke from the other line. Jasper and I could both hear him as if he were sitting in the room with us. I actually kind of miss the big doofus. I looked at him, and nodded in agreement. Jasper and Alice had come to me for a "vacation", as she explained. I guess I had caused a huge mood shift in the climate around the house, and it was too much for Jasper. I didn't believe one word they said. If Jasper wanted to escape the upsetting and depressing emotions, my apartment would be the very last place he wanted to be.

"Guess I didn't see that," Alice mumbled. I tried to keep myself calm for Jasper's sake, but the idea of Bella losing it was driving me insane. It had been 24 days, almost 25 since I had last seen her, but it felt like much longer. Sure, I had lasted longer periods of time without her. But that before she was a vampire, and my desire to keep her safe and human was the only thing that kept me away. She was a vampire now. What the hell was my excuse?

I focused my attention to Alice as she grumbled a grumpy goodbye to Emmett, and pushed the small phone closed. I tried listening to her thoughts, but she was listing off fashion designers. I growled.

"Why should I tell you what's going on? It's not like you care," she snapped angrily at me. I snarled loudly, and quickly rose to my feet. Jasper moved quickly to the couch next to Alice. He couldn't help but he protective of her, even though he knew I'd never harm her. Edward, please be calm.

"Of course I care! How could you even say that? Bella is my life!" I yelled, inhaling sharp breaths to calm myself down. She smirked. Could've fooled me.

"I'm not fooling anybody, Alice," I hissed between my teeth. "Bella knows that I love her. And that's all I care about."

No, she doesn't. And why should she? You left her when she needed you. How does that show love?

I gasped, and my fingers curled into tight fists. Alice noticed my anger, but continued.

"Why was leaving necessary, Edward? Who is it helping? All you do is sit here and swim in your own remorse and guilt of what happened to Bella. All she does is sit at home and sob over you leaving. You being on a different continent isn't helping anybody! I always thought you were so smart, but why can't you see that? You can't change what happened, and neither can she. What's done is done, so why the hell are you still here?"

I closed my eyes, and sunk to the floor. I was shaking in anger, but it wasn't directed towards Alice. It was towards myself. Everything she had sad was right. I gulped, and opened my eyes to look at her. She was smiling, leaning back against the couch with her arms crossed over her chest. Suddenly, her reason for the London vacation was quite clear. She sat forward, and her eyes burned into mine.

"So, what do we do now?" she asked me, never breaking her gaze. I sighed, and closed my eyes once more, before answering her.

"We buy tickets for the first flight back to Forks."

I couldn't keep him away any longer! But writing him back into Bella's life is going to be very drama filled & interesting! I'm getting excited just thinking about writing it, haha. Anyways, thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them a lot!