"Oh come on Cali, I know you're better than that." Kate snarks from a far room, laughing when I fail to make her get up from the couch.

"Kate, so help me God." I growl, leaning against the kitchen counter and giving up my attempt at getting her off the couch.

"I could almost feel the desperation in that last attempt, it was almost sad." She laughs harder, and I let go of the counter knowing that I will for sure snap in two if she pushes me any farther.

"Kate, stop pushing her." Carmen snaps, walking in the back door, Eleazar trailing behind her with a pensive look on his face.

I smile victoriously in Kate's direction, even if she cannot see it.

"And you," Carmen continues, pointing a finger at me like I'm a child "Stop using your gift on your sister."

I nod slowly, knowing that I'll still use it on her anyways, it serves her right for as hard as she electrocuted me last night while I was trying to watch a show on the television. I'm about to head outside when Eleazar stops me, motioning me towards his office with a frown.

Following behind him silently, I look behind me at Carmen who doesn't look as jovial as usual, and my heart sinks. The only time they are ever this silent is when the Cullen Clan is involved.

The last time we had to talk was when Edward came up for a week or two. I left right away and headed back to the cabin. I'm sure if he had really wanted to, that he could have tracked me all the way there, but he respected my space.

"Eleazar, I know it must be something with the Cullen family. What has happened now?" I tread lightly, watching for any kind of emotion to pass across his stoic face.

"It is time for you to return home, Calina." He sighs, shuffling some paperwork around like he's some kind of boss fixing to fire me.

"I am home." My face falls as I think about returning to them, and returning to him.

"Calina, your mate is there, the family has suffered tremendously without you." He tries to reason, but I am beyond his reasoning already.

"So help me God, Eleazar, I will not." I growl, upset by his attempt to throw me back at them.

"They have been attacked by a band of nomads, Edward's singer was injured. The nomads may have just been passing through, but Carlisle would feel better if you were with them, not away. Jasper is weak without you, and you are weak without him."

I look Eleazar dead in the eye, and glare at him, but there is nothing I can do to change his mind.

"Bullshit." I growl, walking to the office door and slamming it behind me,

Irina looks up at me from a book she's reading on the couch when I storm up the stairs to pack a bag.

"You can always return." She soothes, following me up the stairs. She starts throwing my things into a suitcase, assuring me that I can always buy more later.

"They hurt me." I sigh, "But they are family, and I cannot see them destroyed."

"I know you can't." she pulls me into a hug "Take my car, I don't need it anyways."

I smile at her, grasping the keys tightly in my hand.

"Thank you." I nod, grabbing both bags into my arms.

"We will always be sisters." She whispers, taking my hand one last time.

"I love you, sister." I smile, taking her in, as though she could disappear right before me.

It feels too final, so I rush down the stairs, all too eager to escape without goodbyes. I make it to the garage without seeing anyone, but when I open the door, I am startled to see Kate standing by Irina's car.

"Still doing what you do best, I see." She nods at my bags.

"I have no choice." I sigh, moving past her and to the car.

"You're still running, not saying goodbye, thinking that someone else will just clean up whatever you leave behind."

"I can't do this now, Kate." I quip, throwing my bags into the trunk of the huge SUV.

"You can't ever do it, Calina." Her response is sharp, and it hurts, but not enough to stop me.

"Stop, please."

"You need to grow up." Kate finally shouts, and I whirl around to face her.

"What?" I growl, stepping away from the door.

"You have two families who love you, you have a god damned mate, but you can't get your shit together long enough to stay anywhere. You run like it's your life. Grow the fuck up."

I stagger backwards, watching the girl who has protected me through everything yell at me like it's her job.

"Do you think I wanted this, do you think I wanted my family dead, or wanted to drain every human I see, or God forbid, maybe I don't even want a mate." My voice escalates with my anger as I watch her.

"You chose to be with that boy. I warned you, I told you he wasn't good news, and you ignored me."

I've never seen Kate this genuinely riled up.

"I loved him." I yell, knocking over a box in my fit of self-loathing.

"That night, Alice called me in a fit, and she told me to call the cops." Kate gasps, "I thought you were dead, I could smell the blood from a mile out. Have you even taken the time to think everything through, or are you still running from that too?"

It's a low blow, but she's right. I bottle things up like a professional.

"And here you are, almost a year later, still running from everything that even seems a bit tough. I've been giving excuses for you, because I love you, but you need to wake up. You aren't just hurting yourself with your selfishness." She continues, chest heaving with her words.

We watch each other in one of the most tense moments I have ever had.

"I love you, Kate." I finally nod at her, and in a second she is next to me, holding me tightly.

"No more running." She pleads, and silently agree.

"Stay safe." I pull away from her, heading to the door of the car again, this time ready to leave for real.

"Always am." She smirks, all traces of anger disappearing as she watches me pull out of the driveway.

I plug the little town into my GPS, and head towards Forks.

. . .

Time seems to pass quickly, or maybe I seem to drive quickly. Either way, the town approaches outside the car much faster than I would have wished.

Almost as instantly as I reach the town, my phone starts to ring. I roll my eyes, grabbing the infuriating thing and answer.

"Why did I just see you pulling up at the house?" Alice skips any kind of greeting and gets straight to her point.

"Alice, must you really ask that. I know you knew I was coming." I sigh, waiting on her response.

"Actually, I didn't. I just now saw, why are you back?" she asks again, there's no hostility in her voice, just curiosity.

I don't reply, and she laughs into the phone.

"I knew it, you're back for him, I told you that you two were meant to be." I can almost sense her excitement.

"Alice, Alice." I call into the phone, anxious to get her off the love boat.

"Yes?" she finally replies breathlessly.

"I haven't seen him in eight months, take it slow." I laugh.

"Thank god you're back, Bella thinks Jasper and I are you know, together." Even though she's joking and sounds slightly revolted at the idea, a primal urge in me has me resisting a growl.

"Who's Bella?" I frown, trying to remember if they've ever mentioned her before.

"I'll explain everything when you pull in, hopefully before Rose gets to you and taints you." She sighs wistfully into the phone, confusing me further.

"Okay, I expect a thorough update." I click the phone off, not waiting for her response.

The address Eleazar has in the GPS takes me to the outskirts of town. Its late in the afternoon when I pull into the drive of my new home. Just as I expected, Alice stands in the middle of the driveway, ridiculously over dressed with a huge grin on her pale face.

"Calina." She shrieks, launching herself at me and embracing me.

"Hey." I laugh, comforted by her easy love.

"I have so much to tell you, leave your bags, I have a wardrobe already ready for you. I had a feeling you would return." She practically bounces as she leads me into the mansion.

When she finally reaches my room, she sits down on the bed in the middle. It's draped with a huge canopy, and is much bigger than anyone could ever need.

"So, who is Bella?" I finally ask, looking around at all the things in the room.

"Well, she's Edward's singer, and mate." Alice responds uneasily.

"Why are you so nervous about her?" I cock my head, trying to search for the truth in Alice, but she's too distracted.

"Because she's human." A voice responds from behind me, and I whirl around to face the person in the door.

"Rose." I whisper, too distracted by seeing my friend to even process what she has said.

"Hey Cali." She smiles softly, not moving from the doorway.

"I missed you." I choke out, overwhelmed by her presence.

That's all it takes, and she's hugging me tightly like she doesn't want to let go.

"We have so much to talk about. Don't let Alice get to you with her blind love for Bella, she could be the death of all of us." Rose insists, and I can't help but roll my eyes at her.

"Will someone just tell me who she is?" I laugh, looking between the two who are now having an intense stare down.

"Me." A little voice nervously rasps from the doorway, and I look over at the fragile girl. She's fumbling with everything around her and shifting her weight from a good leg and a boot.

She smells sweet, but not sweet enough to want to drink her or anything.

"Oh good, you're here." Alice squeal, pulling the poor girl along into my bathroom.

"Who is she?" I hear her whisper despite being in a different room.

Rose looks knowingly at me, and nods towards the door. I follow her across the hall and into her bedroom. Emmett lays sprawled across the bed with a laptop in hand, scrolling through some page on the internet.

"Sup, Emmett?" I ask, and he fist pumps.

"I knew it, I called it. You're back." He grins.

I laugh, and Rose rolls her eyes at her mate, taking me towards her bathroom. I gasp when I walk in, looking over at the dress that hangs on the wall. It's every bit as elaborate and beautiful as I remember it.

"Rose, why do you have this?" I ask.

"Prom night, and as I recall, you have a boy here who would like a dance." She smiles, and butterflies well in my stomach nervously.

"We're going to prom?" I laugh lightly, running my hand over the silky material.

"Well, it's either you or Alice going with him, and I think he'd much rather dance with his mate."

"Okay." I nod, and she starts digging out her makeup.

My dead heart flutters knowing that I will see him sooner rather than later.

. . .

"Calina, stop being shy and come down." Rose calls to me, and even with the amount of grace I have, I still wobble in the shoes Alice picked for me.

"We all know you look beautiful dear." Esme coaxes gentler than Rosalie.

I make my way down as quick as I can, standing before the family shyly.

"You all look gorgeous." Esme gushes to all of us, proudly gazing upon Rose and me.

Looking around, I notice that both Rose and Bella are fit to go to the Prom too. Nodding at Rose, she herds me towards the car, leaving Bella with Edward.

"The boys will meet us there." She trills, and I try to smooth out my dress as we walk.

"Okay." I mutter, suddenly scared to see Jasper.

"Don't worry about seeing him. He understands what happened, and he blames you for nothing." She sighs, driving well over the speeding limit through town.

"Okay." I murmur.

We pull into the parking lot minutes later, Rose throwing open her door and walking quickly to the entrance, barely bothering with me. Probably because she can't stand to see me worried about something so trivial to her.

I follow closely behind, arms crossed as I watch the couples around me swarm to the entrance. My throat burns, but it isn't unbearable.

I step into the light of the gym behind Rose, and my eyes lock on his immediately. I walk slowly to him, nerves dissipating, and I know he's taking them on for me. Always the gentleman.

"Calina." He breathes out when we're finally close enough to each other, and he goes to start another sentence, but I interrupt him.

I take his cheek into my hand, the world around us disappears, and I coax him gently closer.

And I crash my lips onto his.