Please don't hate me!
Warning:
I'm in the process of moving so I have no idea when I will be getting my internet back I only have it for the next 2 days then I move… .L
I'll try and leave this chapter on a semi-happy note and try to get out another chapter tomorrow before I move. I'm sooooo so sorry to have to leave you guys hanging like this. But I promise that as soon as I have internet again I will have a few chapters written for you guys! (or maybe I'll have it all finished!)
Please forgive me? ='(
So if you don't hate me after that…. Here is my real AN:
The song that Bella was listening to at the beginning of the last chapter is up on my profile. It's 'Memories' by Within Temptation.
It's such a beautiful song, and I thought it went perfectly with the chapter. ;D
Alright, This is a twist I'm throwing in. I hope you guys don't hate me for throwing in drama, but I got this idea before I could think of how to do their reunion so yeah... hope you guys like it at least a little! ^.^
Thank you for all the great reviews! Seriously, without them I would have no motivation to write these ridiculously long ass chapters… lol
Alright so, on with it.
Lights! Camera! …Read!
Demetri's POV
"You'll always have a place in my heart, Isabella. But you're friendship means more to me than anything in my life. I will treasure every moment with you and never regret anything."
She gave me a small sad smile as she said, "And you will always have a place in my heart, Demetri. I do love you."
"As I do you. But we weren't meant for each other this way. And I accept that."
Oh how wrong I was. I should have never let her go so easily…
I don't regret any moment we shared together, but I definitely regretted letting her go.
Looking at her as she looked at me with sadness in her eyes broke my heart. I had to look away. I turned my gaze to the ground underneath me as I waited for Aro to finish reading her memories.
That look of sadness on her face I remember well, it was the same face I saw that dreadful day, the day I lost her.
She said she still loved me but that was years ago, is there any hope that she still has love for me?
These last few months having her here again brought up so many good memories. Yet still many depressing ones arise with the happy ones, from when she left me.
Having her here just reminds me how much I truly missed her. I missed her voice, her smile, her sent, her touch…her lips.
I do understand her reasons for leaving me, but I was oblivious at first to what was happening. The last few months of our relationship was when I started to realized that she was unhappy, and then she started to distance herself from me. I started to have doubts of her love for me but rationalized with myself that it was her choice to stay with me or leave. If she loved me enough she would stay.
But that day when she came into my room with that look on her face, I could tell she that she wanted to end us. She looked so pained. I knew she didn't want to hurt me, she was always such an honest person and I could tell that she was torn as to what to do. So I gave her the outlet. Despite my own true feelings I let her go. I did not want her to stay with me if that's not what she truly wanted.
But I feel today that it might have been the biggest mistake of my life. I should have tried harder. I should have showed her my love even more. I should have taken her away from here and we could have been happy, away from the Volturi.
After all these years, I had convinced myself that she was unhappy being in the Volturi and that was the real cause of her wanting to leave. I couldn't help but think that maybe there would still be a chance for us if we just ran away together.
I should have gone after her.
Maybe we could have worked things out and have gone back to how things were. We were perfect.
I smiled as a stole a glance at the beauty that held my hand in hers.
"Well, we have the day to ourselves. What shall we do?" I asked as I placed my hands at her waist.
She pulled me closer in our embrace and placed her soft lips on mine. She then laid her head on my shoulder before she spoke.
"Hm…I don't know. What would you like to do?"
"As long as I'm with you, what ever we do will be perfect."
She sighed happily. "We could just stay like this in each other's arms all day. I'm comfy."
I chuckled. "Sounds good to me."
I lifted her up lightly and glided over to my bed. She stepped away from me for a brief moment as she sat on the edge of the bed. She pulled me down to sit next to her. We sat there in silence for awhile just looking in each other's eyes.
I leaned forward and kissed her passionately as she entwined her fingers in my hair pulling me closer. I shifted and placed us both facing each other lying in the bed. We parted to look at each other again. She smiled as she searched my eyes.
"Very comfy." She said.
"I love you, Bella."
"I love you, too."
She pulled me towards her and we continued where we left off.
That was the first night we made love.
I honestly thought things were perfect. It broke my heart to let her go. It got worse when she left the castle after we separated.
Now that I had her back in my presence the last couple of months I foolishly thought that there could be a chance to win her back.
I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts.
It seemed like I never had the chance to try. She always locked herself away in her room to stare at her pictures for hours.
The only time I ever got to spend with her was through training and when we went out with Bethany. We were never alone. I never had my chance…
But there's not much I can do now…what's done is done.
It's been so long since she was mine. I fear I've lost any chance to win her back now…
I cringed.
She loves that human now.
Knowing she's found someone else to love breaks me to pieces.
I've been extremely jealous. How can a simple human capture the heart of my beloved Bella? I could never understand how that love is possible.
I had completely lost myself in my thoughts and memories I had forgot where I was for a moment.
I looked up and saw that Aro was still holding on to Bella reading her thoughts. She still had a pained and sad expression on her face but I couldn't bear to see her that way again. I slipped out of the hall unnoticed and in to the private meeting room waiting for them to finish.
About a half hour later Marcus came into the room.
"You still care for her deeply."
"Of course I do."
"Will you let her slip away so easily then?"
"She doesn't love me anymore, Marcus."
"Hmph, the love for her human is quite strong. But I can see she still has a strong bond with you."
I looked up at him. His face held no emotion.
"I have lost most of my hope to regain her love, Marcus. I don't know if I can bear this life any longer."
"So dramatic, Demetri. Don't be a fool like I have been. Either take action or move on. It's your choice." With that he disappeared out of the room.
Aro entered the room.
"Ah, Demetri! There you are. I was looking for you. I need you to go find Isabella and let her know that all flights have been delayed and she won't be able to leave until tomorrow at 5pm."
"So soon…" I trailed off.
"Yes." He grimaced. "Such a pity. But I hope to win two new additions to the guard soon."
I furrowed my brows in confusion.
"Oh right, you left before hearing the greatest news! Her human is a mind reader. And her sister, she can see the future. They would be such great additions to the guard, don't you think?"
I nodded.
"Don't forget to tell Isabella about her flight." He said as walked away to return to the grand hall.
A mind reader and a psychic, all Aro ever thinks about is power. I know Bella, and I know she'll do anything in her power to keep them as far away from the guard as possible.
I stood up and started to make my way to Bella's room.
As I got closer and closer my emotions got wild. I tried to calm myself. It was only Bella, why should I be nervous?
I reached her door and raised my hand to knock. But before I could she was already calling me in.
"Come in, Demetri."
I opened the door and raised an eyebrow.
"How did you know I was at the door?"
"Well, I was using your gift to locate Bethany to give her my goodbyes, but since I'm so attuned to you, I felt your presence as you reached my door."
I should have known.
"So was there something you needed to tell me?" she asked.
"Yes. Aro sent me."
A look of fear crossed her face. I got closer to her and put my hands on her shoulders.
"Hey, Relax. He just sent me to tell you that all flights leaving Italy have been delayed. So, you're stuck here until 5pm tomorrow."
"Oh, I thought…maybe, for a second… I thought he wasn't going to let me leave."
I frowned and looked down at my lap.
"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked as she tilted my head to look at her face. She looked genuinely concerned.
"I just really wish you weren't leaving…again." I admitted, averting my eyes.
She sighed. "Demetri, you know I can't stay here. This isn't the place for me and I…" I cut her off mid sentence by crashing my lips on hers. I couldn't help myself it was impulse.
At first she hesitated but I held her tight. Then her lips started to move with mine.
My dead heart soared. My hand cupped her face.
I brushed my tongue to her bottom lip begging for entrance but she suddenly pulled away.
I still had my eyes closed. I was afraid to see her reaction. I awkwardly opened one eye, my curiosity getting the best of me.
To my surprise her eyes were still close too and her lips were slightly parted. I took my chances and leaned into lock lips with her again.
I was stopped. I opened my eyes to see my lips caught by her fingertips as she opened her eyes and turned her face away from my gaze.
"Demetri…"
"Isabella, please I…"
"No. Demetri, stop. This needs to stop."
"I don't follow…"
"Us, Demetri. I'm sorry. I just got caught up in the moment."
"I thought maybe…"
"I'm sorry. I was thinking back to how it used to be. Yes we had a good relationship and the kiss brought me back to those wonderful times. But," she turned to look back in to my eyes. "Kissing you right now just makes me even more certain of my feelings. Demetri, we were in the past. My heart belongs to someone else now…"
"I still love you as much as I ever have. Bella, do you not love me at all anymore?" my stomach flipped and turned.
"Of course I still love you Demetri. That won't change. But it's not the love I long for. I love Edward. I need him. It tears me up inside to hurt you so much like this, again… I just can't help the way I feel. Please forgive me."
I should have never taken this so far, now I'm hurting her.
I kissed her forehead.
"Isabella, there's nothing I have to forgive you for. It is you that I beg forgiveness from." She looked at me confused.
"I should have never forced myself on you." I shook my head. "That was very disrespectful. And I know you love him now. But I can't help the way I feel about you, just like you can't control your feelings. I'll just have to learn to deal with your decision. I want you to be happy. Does he make you happy?"
She smiled brightly.
"He brings me more happiness than I have ever known. I can't even begin to explain it. Just being in his mere presence makes my body spasm with joy." She now had a full blown grin on her lips.
"You will find you're happiness. I just know it." She cupped my cheek with her hand as she continued to speak. "You have much too good of a soul and you have such a kind heart. Please, don't give up on finding your soulmate, Demetri."
I closed my eyes and pushed my cheek more onto her hand, savoring the touch I will soon miss again.
"I promise I won't give up. But I don't know if there is anyone else in this world as great as you, Bella."
Bella's eyes were then unfocused and glazed over. I started to worry that something was wrong but she soon focused her eyes back on me and grinned.
"I beg to differ. You will find her Demetri. Just give it a chance and you'll see."
"You've always been pessimistic…where has all this optimism come from?" I asked playfully.
"I've done a lot of growing up. I've changed."
"Nah, you're still my same old Isabella Swan." I lightly tapped my index finger on the tip of her nose.
She giggled.
"Well, come on! Let's go get Bethany. If I'm not able to leave until tomorrow, I want to spend a night out on the town with two of my best friends!" she exclaimed.
I mentally sighed.
Friends.
I better get used to it.
Bella's POV
Yes, I do love Demetri still. But that pales in comparison to my love for Edward. There will always be a place in my heart for Demetri, he was my first love after all. But when I was with him I always felt like there was something missing.
I was happy with him but it never seemed enough.
He is such a beautiful person and a great lover at that, but he deserved much better.
When I was with him, I noticed there wasn't that spark.
Unlike with Edward…
In that last kiss Demetri and I shared I could tell I still felt as I did those years ago. It was nice but felt completely wrong, like it wasn't meant to be.
As soon as his lips were on mine I could tell and I completely knew that Edward was the one my heart truly belonged to.
As I kissed Demetri I couldn't help but imagine that it was Edward I was kissing and not him. When I pulled away, I was longing to kiss Edward. My sweet, innocent Edward.
How I longed for his touch again…
Only one more day.
But tonight, I'll dedicate to Bethany and Demetri. I will miss spending time with them like I have the last couple of months.
I've been friends with them since my change and I could never have enough time with them.
Demetri and I made our way to the castle's lavish gardens where we tracked Bethany to. We found her perched up on a tree reading a book.
"Ella!" she squeaked as she jumped out of the tree landing right beside Demetri and I. "Hello Demetri." She smiled sweetly.
"Hey." I said.
"I heard you'll be leaving us tomorrow. I'm going to miss you." She said taking me in a hug.
"I'm going to miss you guys a lot too." I said as I grabbed both of their hands in mine. "But tonight we shall go out and have fun." I grinned.
"And I know exactly what we should do!" Bethany exclaimed as she pulled us both back towards the castle. "Demetri, go get dressed in to something nice. Ella and I will go get ready in my room."
Demetri left and we headed up to Bethany's room.
"I have just the thing for you to wear too!"
She ran to her closet and pulled out a pair of faded blue skinny jeans, a studded belt and a really cute pair of Jimmy Choo's. ***
"Am I supposed to wear those and go topless or something?" I joked.
"Of course not, silly!"
Then she walked over behind me and picked up a mall shopping bag. She handed it to me.
"I bought you these as a going away gift." She smiled.
I pulled out the first piece of clothing. It was brown and looked like a regular fitted T but I flipped it over and it was open back and corset-like with brown lace trimming through the full length of the shirt. ***
"Damn Bethany, this is really cute. I love it!"
"And it's only going to look better on you. Oh and I got you two others exactly like that one but in dark blue and red."
I grinned. Alice and Bethany would be the greatest of friends. They were so much alike.
We got dressed and met up with Demetri at the front gates where his car was waiting for us.
We decided we should road trip to Rome. It's roughly 180 miles from Volterra and would take three or so hours to get there, if you were going the speed limit anyways. With this car and a vampire behind the wheel we got there in half the time. I've always loved Rome it's such a beautiful place and the smells there were always wonderful.
We got there about 10pm and started making our rounds to some of the hottest night clubs in the area. We ended up going to three different ones while we were there.
The first one was a bit boring. There weren't many people there so we left early. The second one was quite fun but there wasn't much variety in music. So then we made our way to the third. This one was probably the best of the three. We used to go there all the time. We had a blast. Well except during that one…incident.
It was about 1am now. We were at our peak of entertainment. I always had fun with Bethany and Demetri. We had a couple of rounds of drinks and were quite buzzed happily dancing. Demetri excused himself to get himself another drink.
Then of course some human men decided they'd take that as an opportunity to try and hit on Bethany and me. They stomped their way over to us and forcefully started to dance all over us. By their scent I could tell they were all pissed drunk.
I was very thankful sometimes for being vampire when it came to alcohol. We could drink it, though it didn't taste that great, and we would get a light buzz from it. But we would never get drunk no matter how much of it we consumed.
The men continued to throw themselves at us rubbing up against our bodies regardless of us telling them to fuck off.
"Seriously, Back off." I said.
"You guys are pigs." Bethany hissed and then winced. "…and smell revolting."
"Feisty." One of them said.
"That's hot." Said another.
The third just looked at us like he was imagining taking our clothes off.
At this point both of us were itching to beat the shit out of these idiots. But of course we couldn't very well throw them through a wall with out rising suspicion. Though the thought was quite amusing; two petite women throw over grown men twice their size through a wall and everyone just staring jaw dropped as the men scurried up on their feet and ran away crying. That would be hilarious.
"Excuse me." Demetri said popping out of no where while placing his arms around both of our shoulders. "But who do you three think you are rubbing your disgusting hands all over my girls?" He pulled us closer to his chest and away from the three drunken idiots.
"They wanted these hands all over them." One of them said licking his lips and then raising his eyebrows suggestively.
"Yeah, and that's not the only thing they'll get all over them tonight." The other said stepping over trying to grab Bethany's ass.
Demetri quickly pulled us out of the way and held his arm out in front of him. The drunk walked right into his palm and stumbled backwards at the impact.
"Move out of the way!" He yelled. "She's going home with me tonight."
"Actually, no. She's not." And with that Demetri pulled his arm back and punched him square in the jaw. Of course he had to hold back a lot. Probably only used less than a percent of his actual strength, if not he would have killed him instantly.
Even with a fraction of his strength the man fell to the ground and when he looked up you could definitely tell his jaw was broken.
The other two men came lunging after Demetri in defense of that pathetic excuse for a human that was now lying on the floor with a broken face.
Demetri grabbed one of them and quickly spun him around. The other that was throwing a punch ended up hitting him instead of Demetri. I heard his nose crack and it was a bit out of shape.
"What the fuck dude. Why'd you hit me?!" The guy in Demetri's grasp yelled.
He pulled out from his grip and pounced on the guy who punched him.
Next thing you know, the three drunken guys started beating the crap out of each other and the police came to pull them apart. It was a good thing they came when they did before they had a chance to make each other bleed.
Bethany, Demetri and I were in hysterics because when they were interrogated by the police they couldn't even remember why they were fighting each other in the first place! Bethany was literally rolling on the floor laughing. Which in turn set us off on a new round of laughs at her. The three were later arrested and we just went back to dancing. Since everything happened so quickly, no one knew what exactly had happened.
At around 5am we decided to call it a night. We got in the car and started our way back. It was a bit sad leaving Rome it always brought back so many memories.
We passed a road sign and I immediately felt I just had to go back today.
"You guys mind if we make a detour?" I asked wearily.
"Sure, where to?" Demetri asked.
"Marcellina."
He turned his head to look at me. "Are you sure?"
I nodded.
15 minutes later we were there. I hadn't been here in almost 170 years.
"Would you like us to come with you, Ella?"
"I'll be fine. Just give me an hour and meet me back here."
Demetri nodded and I stepped out of the car to face the town's cemetery.
Next to the cemetery was a small flower shop and I went inside and bought four white roses.
I took a deep breath and walked up the dirt road through the graveyard.
I walked to the very end where the bodies of the early 1800's lay. I came across a few graves of people I used to know in my time. I passed a few friends, neighbors, and then I reached the ones that I came to see.
In front of me lay two tombstones for four graves.
On the first stone…
"Jaccoby Swan
1794-1839
Loving husband and father
Lyllian Marie Alice Swan
1799-1839
Loving wife and mother"
On the second…
"Isabella Marie Swan
1827-1839
Mary Alice Swan
1824-1839
Two sisters with an unbreakable bond"
I kneeled before them and spoke in my mind to my parents hoping that they really could hear me.
I hope you don't hate me for not visiting you until now. I just couldn't bear it. I'm sorry.
I still think of you both all the time. I miss you. I wish things would have turned out differently. If it wasn't for me…If I wasn't so careless, maybe you two would have lived long lives.
But there's nothing I can do now…I have to live with what happened now for eternity.
I hope you still love me regardless of what I am. I wish I could see you again.
If you're watching, you must know that I've found Mary Alice now. It's been so many years and I thought she was dead. But we're together now. I hope you're happy that we have each other again...
Oh! And mother…you would never believe this…but I've fallen in love! Me. Isabella Swan. Who would have thought, right?
You did, of course.
I shook my head and smiled.
His name is Edward. I love him so much mom. He's the most amazing, most beautiful, caring, and loving person I've ever met. I wish you could meet him. I'm sure you'd approve.
I frowned.
Unfortunately, I don't know if he returns my feelings. And momma, even if he does love me, even if he does want to be with me, it won't last forever... He'll eventually die and I don't know what I will do after that happens. How can I live an eternity without my Edward?
I told them about the Cullen's and how they were my family now and how much I loved them and was happy. I told them of my birthday and the gifts I had received from each of them from when I had to leave them. I talked about many things and hoped that they were happy, where ever their souls might be.
About a half hour later I decided I would walk through my old neighborhood to see how much it had changed.
I kissed two of the roses and laid them upon my parent's stone.
"I promise the next visit won't take me another 170 years to make. Maybe Mary Alice will come too." I smiled.
I stood up and looked upon mine and Alice's graves. They were, of course, empty. But the gesture was very much appreciated. I was glad that our family kept us beside our parent's graves. It at least gave them somewhere to come and grieve for us.
I put the final two roses on the stone and then began my walk through the town.
I turned the corner of my old street. There were many new homes there. When I lived here there was about maybe four houses and now there was about twenty.
I walked about half a mile and then stopped dead in my tracks.
My old house was right in front of me. It looked almost exactly as it did 169 years ago. Even the big oak tree in the front yard was still there. I was so awe struck. I didn't even think my house would still be there. I thought it would be in ruins.
There were a few modern upgrades made, like a small fence around the front yard and a screen porch, but all in all it was the same exact house.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a picture of it. I'd have to print it out later and frame it. I think Alice would love to see it as well.
"Excuse me, miss. May I help you?"
I looked up from my phone at the woman who stepped out of the house.
I stopped breathing instantly. She was a splitting image of my mother. She looked a bit younger than I remember my mother to look like, but she still looked exactly like her.
"Miss?"
"Oh. Sorry. I was just admiring your home. It's beautiful. Early 1800's right?"
She smiled. "Yes, it was built in 1818. How did you know?"
"I've studied architecture. I have a love for homes and buildings built around that time."
"I guess that explains you taking a picture." She laughed. She was now in front of me leaning against the fence.
"May I ask how you came to own such a beautiful antique home?"
"I inherited this house from my great grandmother Jacqueline Swan. It's been in my family for a little over 190 years now. It's still mostly furnished with things from the first Swan's that lived here back in 1818. The head of the family, Jaccoby Swan, actually built it on his own when he and his wife married and wanted to start a family. He also built most of the furniture."
"He must have been a great carpenter for the house to stay in one piece for so long." I smiled but mentally laughed. My dad did build the house but my mom designed it and built the furniture. My dad was a skilled carpenter but didn't have any taste what so ever when it came to building nice houses and furniture. My mom was the brains behind it all.
"Yeah, he was very talented. Such a tragedy what happened to him and his family though. He and his wife were found with their necks snapped in the living room one night. Someone had broken into their home while they were sleeping. They stole all the jewelry they had in their safe and murdered them afterwards. They had two daughters, but they went missing that night. No one ever saw them again so they were assumed to be dead too."
If vampires could faint I surely would have at this moment.
"That's…horrible." I managed to get out.
"Lilly!" said a man with an English accent. We both looked up towards the front door. There was a handsome blonde man with a baby that looked about a year old at his hip, walking towards a car. "Are you ready to leave? We must hurry if we're going to catch the plane to London. My mother will kill us if we don't get their before Christmas Eve…"
"Yes, I'm ready. I'll be right there." She turned back to me and held out her hand for me to shake. "Well, it was nice chatting with you miss eh…"
"Isabella Sw–Cullen. I–I'm Isabella Cullen." I stuttered. Crap, that was close. How would I even begin to explain my last name being Swan? It would be too much of a coincidence…
"And I'm Lyllian Swan. It was nice meeting you. I have to get going now, but you may take as many pictures as you like." She smiled and walked towards the car.
"Hunny, did you get Marie's baby bag from the nursery?" she said as she sat in the front seat.
"Yes, I got everything. Oh, and call Molly. Tell her I left the door unlocked so she could pick up that mirror dresser from the attic tonight. And also, to make sure she locks it when she leaves." He told her.
I waited until the car was out of sight and walked into the yard making my way to the front door. I know I would be intruding…but I'm pretty much family so it would be ok to come in for awhile, right?
I twisted the door knob and it indeed was open. I walked in and closed the door behind me. I couldn't help but smile. The house was really still a lot like how it was when I left. I walked through each room reminiscing all the times Alice and I had played in them and of when I would cook with mom in the kitchen, and read books in the den by the fireplace. I made my way up the stairs to the attic. It used to be my room.
I opened the door expecting to see my room as I left it, but it wasn't. There were actually lots of boxes and furniture stuffed in the tiny room. In one corner were the dresser with the mirror Alice and I would always use and a few chairs and table that I didn't recognize. I walked over to where some boxes were stacked up. I opened one and found my mother's old wedding dress. I'll always remember the day my mother first showed it to me.
"One day Isabella, you'll be wearing this dress at your own wedding. You'll look so beautiful in it." My mother said holding up the dress in font of me envisioning me actually wearing it.
"Oh Mother, I have to actually find someone to spend my life with before I can even think about getting married. I doubt that will ever happen anyways. I'm already 18 and I still haven't found anyone that I love or even like enough to marry!"
"Don't be silly, Isabella. Of course you'll find someone. I hadn't met your father until I was 23. Everyone has a soulmate. God just hasn't put him in your path yet. You have plenty of time to find him, you'll see." She kissed my forehead and placed the dress back in her closet.
"Who would have thought it would take almost 170 years to find that love." I said to myself.
I looked through a few more boxes and found some old toys and clothes. Some were mine and Alice's but most of the things I found must have been from the other families. I looked around for anything else I might recognize. In one corner I saw a small chest that looked a bit familiar. I had a lock on it but I easily broke it off easily.
Inside I found quite a few things. The first things I saw were a silver brush, small hand mirror, and a sapphire embedded hairpiece that was my given to my mother on her wedding day. Alice and I played with them when we would brush each other's hair.
I also found a stack of beautiful drawings and paintings of landscapes and people I faintly remembered from town. They drawings looked familiar but I couldn't quite remember them. I looked them over and found the initials M.A.S. on the bottom of each one.
Wow, these are Alice's…
I pulled them all out of the chest to continue to look through them. When I lifted them up a sheet of hard paper fell to the ground. I picked it up and flipped it over to look at it. My breathing caught and I felt my muscles tighten. I dropped to my knees.
A picture.
I had found a black and white portrait of my parents, Alice, and I standing in front of the fireplace looking extremely happy.
It was something I always wanted to have. I always had the image of what my mother and Alice looked like, but my father was always a fuzzy memory. And there he was. I felt like crying tears of joy. I finally knew exactly what he looked like. And my mother was much more beautiful than I remembered.
I grabbed everything that was in the chest and put it in a box along with some of the clothes that belonged to me and Alice that I found, and my mother's dress. I made my way out of the house and started to walk back to where Demetri and Bethany should already be waiting for me.
"What's the box for?" Bethany asked.
I smiled. "I went back to my old house. There were a few things I found of my family's that I couldn't help but take back."
She grinned. "You stole your own stuff from your house! Nice."
I poked my tongue out at her and she laughed.
We drove off back on the road to Volterra.
"Bethany…did you ever go back there after you brought me to the Volturi?" I asked.
She gave me a half smile but stayed quiet for a few minutes.
"Your father didn't have a will and they were going to demolish your house after the funeral…" she said suddenly. I turned around in the seat to look at her. She was staring out the window. "I thought it was horrible." She turned to talk to me directly and took my hand in hers. "I forged your father's will and went back the day of the funeral acting as his lawyer. The will stated that he wanted to give ownership of the house and land to his brother. It also asked him to not sell the house and pass it down to each new generation of Swan's"
I looked at her wide-eyed.
She truly was amazing. She saved my house and my things inside. I would have never been able to retrieve these things if wasn't for her.
"Thank you." I breathed.
She squeezed my hand gently and nodded. She let go of my hand after a few seconds and went back to looking out the window.
The ride back was quiet but when we got to the castle it was anything but quiet. I was getting stopped left and right by everyone so they could give me their goodbyes. Although, almost all of them kept saying "I wish you weren't leaving.' or something like 'You should stay.' It was getting a bit annoying after awhile.
Before I was about to leave to catch my flight I was called into the grand hall for a final goodbye.
Aro, Caius, Marcus were at their usual thrones of course and Jane was at Aro's side like always. Demetri, Bethany, and the rest of the new guard were there too.
I wasn't surprised when I saw Jane with a cocky smile placed on her face instead of the usual death glares she sent me. She was extremely happy I was leaving. She was free to be Aro's favorite toy again.
Aro rose and walked forward.
"I'll truly miss you, Isabella. Please, do visit us again soon." He came closer to embrace me in a hug. I quickly used a shield to make sure he wasn't trying to read my thoughts again.
He laughed.
"Hiding something, Isabella?" he whispered.
I smiled. "Of course not. I would just like to keep my recent memories to myself for awhile. They're quite personal." I whispered back.
He smiled and retreated backwards. "Come brothers, join me for dinner." They walked towards their meeting room. "We shall give you a private moment to say your farewell to the guard." He continued and then followed Caius and Marcus.
Bridget came up and hugged me. "I'll miss ya, Bell. I was getting used to you being around. You better keep in touch!"
"With all of us too." Anthony added as he, Charles, and Kevin emerged in front of me.
"I'll miss you guys like crazy. You all made my stay here much better than I imagined it would be like." I smiled.
I said goodbye to them and left to get my bags.
Demetri and Bethany drove me to the airport.
"You know, I'll miss both of you the most." I said.
"Take care of yourself, Bella." Demetri said.
"Well, you won't have to miss me too much yet."
I raised an eyebrow at Bethany. She smiled.
"I got permission for a small vacation next week. I'm going to go visit you for New Years!" she said.
"That'll be awesome. Oh you'll love Alice!"
"If she's as cool as you, then I'm sure I will." She laughed.
I gave them each a final hug and made my way to the jet. I took a look back at them before turning the corner.
Demetri had his arm over Bethany's shoulder as he was waving at me. Bethany was looking up at his face while biting her bottom lip. I waved back. He looked down at Bethany and she gave him a smile. She quickly turned back to me and I winked at her before Demetri turned back in my direction.
I smiled as I boarded the plane and thought back to the vision I had yesterday while looking into Demetri's future.
In a couple of weeks Bethany would work up the courage to tell him how she really feels about him and in just a year's time they would be getting married.
I better be her maid of honor!
The fly back to Seattle seemed to drag on much, MUCH longer than the flight to Volterra. I was so anxious and excited about seeing my family, seeing Edward, again.
I was practically bouncing up and down in my seat. Seriously, someone could probably mistake me for Alice with how giddy I was.
The pilot announced our arrival and we started to circle around in the air, descending.
As soon as I landed, I had to focus myself extremely hard trying to make sure I wouldn't run at vampire speed through the airport.
I didn't have to wait any longer. As I walked through the ramp and out the door, there they were, all them lined up waiting for me.
My family.
They all had huge smiles on their faces. But when I saw his emerald eyes he had my complete and undivided attention. He had his crooked grin in place and with out ever breaking eye contact he walked, fast paced, towards me.
I almost lost it there, I wanted to glide over to him in one stride.
I walked at an excruciatingly slow pace as I 'ran' to him.
We stopped just one foot in front of each other and for a few seconds we were lost in our eyes.
Suddenly he pulled me against his body and held me as tight as he could as he buried his face in my hair. I wrapped my arms around him and took in his scent. I was lost in the moment.
"Bella…" he breathed.
The sound of his velvet voice made my knees go weak.
I would have probably fallen over if he wasn't holding me so close still
He pulled away slightly as he cupped my cheek.
"You have no idea how much I've missed you." I said with longing in my voice.
He closed the distance between us by placing his forehead on mine.
"Not nearly as much as I've missed you, love."
I searched his eyes looking for any sign of what he was feeling right now.
His eyes were glimmering as he kept them locked with mine.
His gaze was so intense, full of longing, excitement, happiness, and… love.
Could he possible love me?
Love me as much as I love him?
I felt the warmth of his hand softly trail down my jaw, from my cheek to under my chin.
Ok so if I don't get to post a new chapter tomorrow, I know you all will hate me… I left it at such a cliffy!
Again…I ask: Please don't hate me? .L
I'm sooo sooo sorry but I just had to keep the chapter like this. When the next chapter comes out you'll see why!
I love you guys, please stay with me. I promise it will be worth it in the end.
Please review!