All characters except for Annabelle Causley and a few others belong to Stephenie Meyer…and, of course, the writer is not receiving any profit for this story whatsoever.

This is an AU out of Stephenie Meyers' Twilight series. This story starts after Eclipse, two weeks before Edward and Bella's wedding.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Annabelle sat in the dark car, staring sightlessly out the windshield window. She couldn't recall driving the car into the garage. Jacob had driven up to the entrance to the Cullens' property before getting out of the car and heading towards La Push without a single word to her.

Annabelle blinked in response to the insistent tapping on the driver's side window. Undoing her seatbelt, she opened the door and stepped out of the car to stand before Edward, extending her hand to give him the key.

"Are you alright," Edward looked down into Annabelle's eyes, immediately seeing the desperation and hopelessness that she was feeling. Annabelle's eyes were bright even though she couldn't shed any tears as she shook her head.

"I love him," she whispered in a bleak voice before turning to head back to the house, her shoulders slumped and steps dragging.

Edward stood holding the door open, staring after his best friend, feeling his anger towards Jacob returning in full force. Shaking his head, he made to slam the door shut but stopped. Looking inside the car, he saw sand covering the front leather seats. Taking a tentative sniff, he gagged at the strong canine smell.

"Damn it Annabelle," he muttered to himself, "You could have at least lowered the windows on the way back from the beach to let out the smell."

Reaching in, he pressed the button to automatically lower all the windows before shutting the door. He was going to have to get that car thoroughly cleaned before he told Jasper and Emmett that he would be keeping it. Shaking his head, he walked back towards the house, wishing he knew how to help Annabelle with her emotional distress.


"Hey, Anna," Annabelle looked up from where she was sitting on the floor of her room, the flat box in her lap, to watch Alice enter the room, "The boys were wondering if you would like to come with us to the clearing to practice."

"Practice what?" Annabelle moved the box from her lap and placed it on the floor beside her.

"Sparring…according to Emmett, we should be preparing for a fight since the Volturri want to get rid of us…quite frankly, I think Emmett just wants a rematch from the last time. Both Jasper and Edward beat him and you know how much he dislikes losing."

"Yeah," Annabelle smiled as she stood up, "He's a big baby about it."

Alice laughed as she looked at the box before returning her gaze to Annabelle, "You might want to change. Jeans and a t-shirt should do it…and maybe shower."

Annabelle looked down at the dark blue jeans and soft pink tank top she had on, recalling how Jacob made an effort not to destroy her clothes this time around, "Alright. I'll meet you downstairs in a minute."

Alice nodded as she turned to walk out of the room but not before asking over her shoulder as she stopped at the opened door, "Hey, are you ever going to tell us what's in that box?"

Annabelle grinned at her, "When I'm ready to open the box, you might even see it. But I'm not making any promises."

Alice stared intently at her before turning to leave the room, shaking her head and muttering about annoying werewolves and blank futures.

Annabelle couldn't help but be glad that Alice couldn't see her future, especially after having made up her mind to have Jacob help her in ending her existence. He didn't know that, of course, but a promise was a promise.

It was foolish of him to agree to her conditions but then again, he probably wouldn't have a problem with her request. Sighing deeply, she forced herself to push him and her dark thoughts out of her mind as she headed to the bathroom to take a quick shower followed by changing into sage green cargo pants and a black cotton t-shirt, pulling on ankle socks and a pair of black and white Converse sneakers that had attracted her attention during a shoe shopping spree with Alice.

She gave the box a last glance before heading down the stairs to the living room.

"I thought you told Alice it would take a minute," Annabelle smiled at a slightly disgruntled Emmett as she walked into the living room.

"How long did I take?"

Emmett looked at his watch in a display of annoyance, "A minute and thirty seconds."

"Gee," Annabelle gave him a look of disbelief, "Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."

"Don't mind him," Edward stood up from the sofa where he had been sitting with Bella, pulling her up to stand near him, placing his arm around her shoulders, "Now that you're here, we can all go."

Annabelle tried not to laugh at the exodus of the Cullens as they all headed out of the house, including Esme and Carlisle. She started walking slower so she could follow them instead of walk with them, but Edward grabbed her arm and pulled her along beside him.

"So tell me…how was your trip to the beach?" Edward looked down at Annabelle, his face a mask of interest that Annabelle was able to see right through.

"I'm sorry about the sand in the car," she muttered as she pulled her arm out of his grasp, "And I don't want to talk about it…especially with you."

"Are you mad at me," Edward's eyebrows lowered in confusion as he made sure Annabelle stayed in step with him.

Annabelle gave him a look that answered his question without words. Grabbing her arm, he turned to whisper into Bella's ear. Annabelle stood still as Bella looked at her before nodding her head and turning to walk after the rest of the Cullens, leaving them behind.

"The one thing that drove me crazy about you back when we were human was your passive aggressiveness," Edward glared down at Annabelle, crossing his arms over his chest, "I still don't like it."

"Yeah, well, what I don't like is you unable to keep your mouth shut," Annabelle stepped back to keep from having to look up at him, "When the hell did you have the opportunity to tell Jacob that you were my ex-fiancé?"

"Why does that make you mad," Edward gave her a confused look as he threw his hands up in exasperation, "He was going to find out somehow."

"No he wasn't. He never asked about anything concerning me and I liked it that way," Annabelle turned to stare at the far off horizon, "It kept everything we did at a superficial level."

"Annabelle, you're lying to yourself. Nothing you did with him was at a superficial level. From the very beginning, he got to you in a way that I never did."

"Yeah, well," Annabelle turned to look at Edward, "You could have at least kept yourself from telling him…just like I did with Bella. It wasn't your place, Edward, and you know it."

Edward reached out and pulled Annabelle into his arms, absorbing the small tremors than ran through her body, "You're right, it wasn't my place. It's just that he pissed me off so much, standing there, pretending he wasn't interested in you. I just had to tell him because I knew that if anything was going to get him asking you questions it would be knowing that you and I used to have a relationship."

"Why were you even talking to him," Annabelle's voice muffled by Edward's cotton t-shirt, her face buried into his chest.

"I went looking for him," Edward muttered, somehow sensing Annabelle would not be pleased.

"Why," Annabelle pulled away from him, "What possessed you to do that?"

"I just…" Edward shoved his hands into his pockets, "I don't like the way he treats you. You're not a whore, Annabelle, and it's not fair that you let him treat you that way."

Annabelle turned to walk away but after several steps, turned back, "It's not your place to care, Edward."

"I'm just looking out for you."

"I'm not a little girl anymore," Annabelle couldn't help but raise her voice, "I know that you're having a hard time trying to see me as the friend I used to be but you're doing it all wrong. I'm not that little girl that was your friend…I'm not even that girl that was your fiancée. If you want us to be friends, then you need to get to know me…the way I am now. You just can't ignore the last hundred years or the obvious fact that I am not the person I used to be."

Annabelle took a deep breath before continuing, "I don't care that Jacob treats me like a "whore". At least up to that point I knew all he wanted from me was sex and I could fool myself into believing I felt the same. But now…you forced him to show that he was interested in me and that, in turn, forced me to see how I really felt about him. I can't tell him that he's become the very center of my existence…I can't let him know that without him, I could very easily lose myself."

Annabelle looked over her shoulder at the path leading to the clearing where the rest of the family was waiting, "And that would be fine if he weren't asking me questions…questions that tear me to pieces because the impossibility of our relationship becomes clearer with each one…I'll never be able to tell him how I feel."

"Annabelle –"

"Let's just go. We've kept the others waiting long enough," turning away, she walked towards the clearing, her arms wrapped around her middle, wishing she hadn't opened up to Edward the way she did.

"Thank you," Annabelle looked up to find Edward walking in step beside her.

"What for?"

"For trusting me with your feelings," Edward gave her a small smile before tentatively placing an arm around her shoulders, "I want us to be friends, Annie. And you're right; I do need to get to know you all over again. So…how about going hunting with me tomorrow after the car show?"

Annabelle smiled up at him, her golden eyes twinkling, "That should show you I'm not the same girl you used to know."


Annabelle stood beside Bella, watching Edward and Jasper as they moved around each other, lashing out with equal competence. Edward had already defeated Emmett, who was broodingly waiting for a rematch.

Edward's shout of triumph was quickly followed by Jasper's groan of defeat. Annabelle laughed as Alice danced towards Jasper, an expression of sincere surprise at his defeat, despite the fact that she knew it was going to happen, on her face.

"Hey, Anna, want to give it a try," Emmett moved towards the center of the field, agilely moving from foot to foot in the same manner as a boxer.

"Against you?" Annabelle looked Emmett up and down, quickly gouging his weight and sense of balance, "That's kind of brutal, isn't it? The last thing I want is to have you screaming "in your face" all night long."

Rosalie and Alice laughed as Emmett cocked his head to the side, "I'll handicap myself…use just one arm."

"Well," Annabelle turned to look at Edward as she pulled her hair back, quickly twisting it into a knot, "I've never actually sparred so…why don't I practice with Edward first?"

They all laughed as Edward shrugged, quickly kissing Bella before stepping out into the middle of the clearing, "I'll take it easy on you, Annie."

"Oh please," Annabelle moved slowly towards Edward, keeping several feet between them, "There were many a time when we were kids when I easily wrestled you to the ground."

"Only because I let you," Edward taunted back, a smile on his face as he crouched into an attack position, his eyes narrowing.

Annabelle stood still before smiling, disappearing at the same time that she moved.

Edward's head whipped around him, trying to find any hint of where she was, "That is not fair Annabelle!"

With the same speed as she had disappeared, a laughing Annabelle jumped onto Edward's back, surprising him enough that he stumbled and fell to the ground, his hands quickly stopping him from landing face first into the dirt, "You never said anything about not being able to disappear. Besides, we both know you were just going to read my mind just like you did with Emmett and Jasper."

Jasper and Emmett were laughing so hard they had to lean on each other.

"Oh man!" Emmett gasped as he held on to Jasper's shoulder, "You've met your match, Edward."

"Hey," Alice turned to glare at Emmett, the twinkling eyes on her pixie face ruining the effect, "He's never been able to beat me."

"What he meant," Jasper reached out to run his fingers through her short hair, "Was that with Annabelle, Edward can't count on his talent...at all."

"I want to go next," Emmett called out as Annabelle moved away from a sullen Edward, her grin growing as she turned to look at the other Cullen boys.

"Oh no," Annabelle shook her head, her eyebrows arching; "I want to work my way up to you. I'll take Jasper on next."

"Alright," Jasper moved away from Alice, a slightly menacing smile on his face, "But you can't disappear…and I don't plan on taking it easy on you."

"That's alright," Annabelle looked him up and down before shifting into an attack position, "I think I can hold my own."

"I should warn you…I've got military training."

"Oh," Annabelle stepped to the left just to watch Jasper counteract her move, "Well, that may tip the odds in your favor but we'll wait and see, I suppose."

It was an intense two minutes as they danced around each other, counteracting each other's moves when Annabelle moved with a sudden alacrity that surprised everyone, including Jasper as he found himself face down on the ground, Annabelle perched on his back, his arms pinned behind him.

"What the hell just happened," Jasper thundered as he tried to break free before he stopped to spit dirt out of his mouth as Annabelle jumped off his back, her grin back in place.

"You got your ass handed to you by a girl, that's what happened," Emmett laughed loudly, bending over in half as Jasper picked himself off the ground, glaring at a pleased Annabelle who was wisely keeping her distance from him.

Jasper walked towards Alice, the look on his face letting everyone know that if he were able to, he'd be blushing with humiliation at that moment. Carlisle turned his head into Esme's hair, unsuccessfully hiding his chuckle from his son.

"We have company coming," Edward looked across the clearing towards the dense forest, his grin slowly fading as he wrapped his arms around Bella.

"The werewolves?" Carlisle turned to look at Edward, his eyebrows lowering in confusion as he moved closer to Esme.

"Yes," Edward's face relaxed as he turned to look at his family, "They heard us…well, they actually heard Jasper's whining and were hoping they could sit in and watch."

"Why," Rosalie crossed her arms over her chest, her full lips lowered in a frown. Annabelle cocked her head as she realized that was the only look she had ever seen on Rosalie since she met the Cullens.

"And I was not whining."

"They're patrolling the treaty line and are bored…one or two of them are hoping things would get out of hand and liven up the night."

"By all means, let 'em come," Emmett walked backwards towards the middle of the clearing, "Maybe after I thrash Annabelle, one of them might like a go."

"Emmett," Carlisle's stare was downright parental as he made his displeasure evidently known.

"Don't worry, Carlisle…I wouldn't hurt them…well, not enough that you wouldn't be able to fix them," Emmett grinned in that familiar cocky manner before turning to Annabelle, "Alright, Anna, you've put me off long enough. I know I won't be as easy as Edward or Jasper but I'm sure you'll try your best. Let's put on a show for these dogs."

Annabelle's eyes moved from the forest border to Emmett to Edward and then back, watching as four…five…six large wolves of varying shades moved away from the trees several feet before settling down in the ground. Her eyes jumped from wolf to wolf, her breathing erratic before she turned to look at Edward, sighing deeply when he shook his head in response to the question in her head.

Shaking her head, she finally focused on Emmett as she moved towards him, "Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, but I assume you were doing some sort of smack talk about how you'll be showing me how it's done?"

Edward and Jasper's laughter were accompanied by corresponding barks from a couple of the werewolves, which immediately distracted Annabelle as she turned to look at them again, amazed at their size and number.

Edward chuckled at her thoughts, looking forward to the look on her face when he told her there were about sixteen in the pack, "Annabelle, pay attention. I've got two thousand dollars ridding on this match."

Annabelle turned to look at him, smiling in surprise, "You're betting that I win?"

"Yes, he's that stupidly loyal," Jasper was standing behind Alice, his arms around her as he gave Annabelle a mocking grin, "So I'm making sure I get some money out of it."

"Enough talk already, c'mon!" Emmett jumped several times in place before shifting into a crouch, his excitement ruining the threatening effect it was suppose to have.

Annabelle breathed deeply as she crouched into position, trying not to gag at the disgusting canine smell that the breeze drifted her way. Shaking her head, she narrowed her eyes as she quickly assessed Emmett's position, noticing small details that would turn the match in her favor…as long as she figured out how to use his strength against him.

Emmett moved towards Annabelle so fast that she was surprised yet able to counteract, keeping herself away from his hands. To the human eye, they were nothing but blurring shapes that clashed every other second for an intense three minutes before a loud resounding crash was followed by Emmett's colorful cursing.

The Cullens (except for a smiling Alice) stood in surprise as the dust thrown up by the sparring settled, revealing a grinning Annabelle sitting cross legged on top of a horizontal Emmett.

"Fucking shit!" Emmett growled as he shifted, hoping to dump Annabelle on her ass but not succeeding as she quickly moved off of him to stand several feet away, "How the hell did you do that?"

"Now that would be telling," Annabelle cocked her head, her smile growing at the laughter coming from both the Cullens and the werewolves. Even though Emmett was an annoyingly poor winner, his sullen behavior whenever he lost was greatly amusing.

"I want a rematch," Emmett demanded, his face contorting in anger and humiliation.

"No rematch," Annabelle shook her head, doing her best not to smirk, "Once you get your ass handed to you by a girl, there's no point of return."

"She's right," Edward and Jasper agreed simultaneously, grinning at Emmett as he whipped around to glare at them, his hands fisted at his side.

"Yeah," Rosalie spoke up, biting her lip to keep from laughing as she pointed at Edward and Jasper, "So you might as well join the club with these two wusses."

Bella and Alice laughed as Emmett glared at Rosalie, whispering loud enough for everyone to hear, "You're not getting any tonight."

"Hey," Jasper moved away from Annabelle, "Why don't you take on Carlisle?"

"Oh no," Annabelle shook her head emphatically; "I would never fight Carlisle."

"Why not," Emmett smirked at her as he moved to stand several feet away from Rosalie, refusing to look at her, "Afraid he'll beat you?"

"No," Annabelle placed her hands on her hips, tilting her head to the side, "Carlisle doesn't have a single arrogant bone on his body…so I won't have an advantage."

"What the –"

"Sam Uley was wondering if you would be willing to give him a chance," Edward interrupted Emmett, not wanting a long, unnecessary and probably uninteresting conversation to take place…aside from the fact that he was getting tired of Sam's constant request to spar with Annabelle.

"Sam Uley," Annabelle's eyebrows lowered over her butterscotch eyes as she turned to look at the werewolves, "Which one's he?"

"The black one."

Annabelle watched as a black werewolf the size of a horse rose to his four legs and moved away from the rest of the pack towards her. She couldn't help reacting to the sight of him as her eyes widened, "Holy crap."

Emmett, Edward, and Jasper chuckled as Annabelle took several steps back, trying to put distance between herself and the black werewolf.

Annabelle stopped breathing as she forced herself to stand still, warily looking the huge wolf up and down, knowing full well being four legged was a slight advantage for him, "Well…I suppose I could do it…if he's planning to make the end worth my while."

"Annabelle –" Edward's neck nearly snapped as he turned to look at her, displeased with the thoughts flashing through her head before getting distracted by a new addition to their gathering.