Tania

Our new home was extravagant.

Jasper and I made our way through the forest to a road that was almost hidden around clusters of trees. Light emitted from the wide glass windows of a huge house at the end of a driveway.

I had slowed down to admire it, but Jasper took my hand and gently pulled me forwards towards the steps. He opened the door for me and I stepped through. Distantly, I heard it click shut, as I had started taking in the various ornaments and furniture. Even in the entry way, an elaborately designed bench was in front of the window.

I didn't know why, but I couldn't help staring at it. No one was going to sit on it. What was the point? It looked expensive, yet it didn't even have a purpose other than to sit there looking pretty. Useless.

Jasper hovered behind me, as was his specialty these days. Before he could speak, a smaller mass smacked into me.

Without even seeing who it was, I could tell it was Alice. Her scent flung my mind back to two years ago when she wore the same expensive perfume as she locked her arms around me tightly outside the airport.

My new coven had joined the three of us when she gradually lowered her thin arms, beaming at me. "Welcome home." The dark red lipstick outlined her straight teeth, standing out against her pale skin.

I glanced around us, taking in all the faces, while Alice bounded over to Jasper to give him a hug.

"Hey, T." Emmett stood by the stairs, grinning at me.

I gave him a small wave. "Hi."

"We're glad you're here." Rosalie greeted me. She reached up a hand towards my hair, making me flinch away, instinctively. Rose gave me a small, knowing, smile and advanced again.

As she pulled her hand away I saw she was clutching a leaf between her finger and thumb, her nails perfectly painted a silvery pink.

"Did you both find enough to hunt?" Carlisle asked, stepping forwards, having been standing beside Esme near an archway.

Jasper nodded. "Yes."

"You'll find there's a lot more on the menu on this island." Emmett smirked.

I shrugged. "Only found deer so far."

"We will journey further outwards in a few days," Carlisle assured me.

Just then, Edward made his way down the stairs behind Emmett. As he descended, he looked straight into my eyes. Despite missing everyone, I hadn't missed the way he stared at me, like he was boring directly into my soul. And he might as well have been, with his gift.

Almost immediately I felt uncomfortable and shifted on my feet. I could sense Jasper behind me, hear him taking a step towards me. He was always on edge to be ready to put out a fire, to suffocate the flames, a collar around my neck.

I loved him. I was grateful for everything he did for me, and I knew I was incomplete without him. But sometimes fires should burn.

"Jasper," Edward started.

Oh God, I thought, can't I keep my mind quiet for one minute, please no.

However, if anyone picked up on anything, it was subtle.

"Come on, I've got to show you something," said Edward, tilting his head slightly signalling for Jasper to follow him back upstairs.

Alice linked her arm with mine in a flash, giggling. "I have to show you the house!"

In a few minutes, she had taken me around all three stories. It was larger than their English residence, filled with many more paintings and decorations. I guessed they had accumulated so many things they kept different possessions in each place.

On the top floor, we lingered by a huge wooden cross next to Carlisle's office. It was in good condition apart from the rotting splinters around one side. I wanted to say something to Alice, to tell her my mother believed even though I didn't. My lips parted slightly. No sound came out. The air caught in my throat.

So I closed my mouth and we moved on.

We reached a closed door. "I hope you like it." Alice turned the silver handle with a wide smile.

Inside was another bedroom. A king-size silver framed bed covered in white and steel grey swirls took up less than a quarter of the room, the head against faint blue coloured walls. Two huge mirrors of an inbuilt wardrobe reflected Alice and I standing in the doorway.

I entered, running a finger across the edge of some half empty shelves on my way towards another open door that led to an en-suite.

"It's a bit different to how Jasper had it before," Alice exclaimed. "He'll love it."

I stepped back out of the bathroom, peeling my eyes away from a pile of Jasper's books on the long wooden desk.

"I love it, Alice." I wrapped my arms around her neck.

She laughed, "I knew you would."

I let go of her, shaking my head. "Naturally."

"Here's the thing, though," Alice slid one of the doors of the wardrobe across, revealing empty hangers swinging on the rail inside. "It's totally empty!"

She then waved an arm around at the spaces on the shelves with wide eyes.

"Well, we're just going to have to sort it out."

"Exactly! Tomorrow." She nodded violently. "Tomorrow-" Alice paused, glancing at her watch, "-in a few hours, we are going to Seattle."

"Alright then," I agreed, knowing even if I hadn't wanted to go she would have found a way to force me into her car.

"We're going to find you some great outfits for school."

My smile dropped. "School?"

"It's going to be fine. Don't worry." Alice touched my shoulder, her eyes bright. "You should probably have a shower. Sorry, Tania, you kind of stink."

"Ouch," I replied. "Ok."

Of course, it wasn't just a shower. Like their last house, the Cullens didn't do modest. I stood under the powerful jets of hot water, steam sticking to all the black tiles and glass around me. It had about fifty different settings that I spent about ten minutes fiddling with to get what I wanted.

The water trickled down my hard, pale skin. It was hot, I knew that much. My skin could feel temperatures, yet I felt indifferent to the changes. If the shower had been set to cold it wouldn't have bothered me. So, I had set it to the highest. I should have been burning, melting, screaming.

I didn't do any of those things. Instead I leant back against the soaked tiles, closing my eyes.

A couple of hours later, I was sitting in the passenger seat of Rosalie's car. Alice drove, humming along to a song on the radio. After my shower, I'd dressed in a simple long-sleeved shirt and some black trousers she'd lent me. Then we'd gone on her own personal tour of Forks, driving past all her 'key locations' including the hospital and the school.

"So, how're things?" she asked me, tapping along to the song on the steering wheel.

I scoffed, "like you don't know?"

"Humour me."

Sighing, I avoided eye contact by looking at the road ahead of us. "They're fine."

"Oh, come on." She elbowed my arm lightly. "Two years travelling around with Jasper. It must have been exciting."

I leant my head back in my seat. "Yeah, it was alright."

She raised a delicately shaped eyebrow, unconvinced.

"I don't know. I think I just missed you guys a lot," I mumbled, running my fingers through my hair.

"Obviously! There's more to it than that though, Tania?"

I hesitated, taking a few moments to work out how to word everything I had felt since joining that life.

"Well," I tried to explain. "This is probably the most time we've been apart since you all left."

Alice didn't reply, listening to me speak, her eyes flickering between me and the road.

"He's very protective and always looking out for me to make sure I'm alright and don't suddenly snap and kill someone. But it's like, it's…" I trailed off, chewing my lip. "I don't know if half the things I've felt in the last two years is real?"

Alice furrowed her brow.

"Half the time I don't think he realises what he's doing. That he's got used to keeping me calm. Or maybe he's fed up of my negative emotions." I covered my face with my hands, muffling a groan, and then putting them down again to continue. "I mean I love him, so much, Alice. But I'd like him to maybe back off, just a little."

When I turned my face back to her, she was giving me a sympathetic smile.

"It's alright," she said. "He's probably just scared you might slip up. Jasper would never be able to forgive himself if that happened."

I knew Alice was right. There had been so many times I had imagined myself killing a human, swallowing the blood as my teeth tore their neck in half, the body going limp almost instantaneously. And then my shaking, red hands as I wailed, wishing to reverse a death that could not be undone.

"You know about his history with newborns," Alice carried on. "It sounds like he could give you more credit, though. Have you talked to him?"

"I tried to," I replied, "and he gave me some speech about how he doesn't want to leave me alone in case something happened."

Alice shook her head. "Yeah, sounds like him. Don't worry, Tania. There's all of us, now. Plus, you have me back. And if he doesn't come around, I'll knock some sense into that man."

I smiled. "Thanks, Alice."

Even if the other Cullens didn't want to leave me on my own for too long, it still meant I could have some time without my feelings being manipulated or asked about. Their house was also isolated away from the rest of the humans in town. The only thing I would have to worry about was school. Shopping would be mostly fine since I'd just hunted.

"How about you? And Edward?" I asked her.

"Oh." She took a deep breath, a faint smile on her scarlet lips. "That didn't work out."

"What?" I stared at her. "Why? What happened?"

"Soon after we arrived," said Alice, "we decided it would be easier if we didn't stay together. Neither of us sort of felt that way."

I wasn't sure what to say apart from, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she responded. "We were bored, and," Alice paused, "I'd rather wait. For my real mate."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She hadn't hinted at all. She must have lied in every phone call and text since then.

"I knew you'd worry about me, and Jas can only handle so much."

She faced the road again. A line on her forehead and absence of a smile told me she was not ok.

I touched her arm.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Really."

Alice put her hand over mine, anyway, and turned up the radio, bass vibrating though the seats.

I've been trying to write more by making each chapter longer than the last. Ideally I'd like to aim for 2000 words but I've been writing so slowly I wanted to make sure I was uploading regularly. First chapter was 1000, second was 1200 and this one is 1800 so hopefully I'll get there eventually!

Let me know what you guys think and leave me a review :)