*A/N: Thanks to my lovely beta and awbffe NessiesMomma.*

*Disclaimer: I do not own twilight or its characters, SM does. I do however want Edward Cullen to spend eternity in my bedroom ;]*

This was it. I was sure of it this time. I never thought of how I would die. But, dying in the place of someone I loved seemed like a good way to go. As long as Seth would go on living, I had no regrets.

But the odd thing was, I didn't feel the coldness that was often associated with death. I felt… warm. Now come to think of it, I could feel cloth beneath me and the sounds of heavy breathing from beside me. My lids felt heavy, but I pushed them open. They fluttered slightly, and then I could finally look around the room.

By the pale blue walls filled with pictures of my friends and the worn dresser, I knew I was in my room. I looked beside me and saw Jake bent over with his hands gripping his hair. He looked stressed out. I cautiously reached out and rubbed his back.

"Jake?" I croaked out.

His body froze. He brought his hands slowly down to grip his knees and turned to face me. Relief was evident on his features when he met my eyes and he bent down to grip me in his arms.

"Bella! Oh, Bella!" he rushed out. "You're okay."

I lifted my arms to reach under his and bring him closer to me. I breathed him in, and he smelled of woods and the beach. He was warm, and it brought a smile to my face. It was as if it was Jacob bringing me back.

We pulled back slowly, and he brought his hand up to my face and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. His hand rested on the side of my face, and I tilted my head into it. "Does anything hurt?"

"That's the weird thing. Nothing. But how is that possible?"

"I don't know. Charlie called Dr. Cullen. He's on his way." He closed his eyes and a pained look crossed his features. "I thought I lost you."

"I thought you did too," I whispered out.

A moment passed between us and then Jake shook his head, "It doesn't make sense. I was running ahead of you to Seth. Then, suddenly you were at his side, stopping the van." He paused and drew in a shaky breath. "Then seeing the van hit you… and Seth… and I was just stuck there watching. I felt helpless. When I saw it fall away and you both were okay… I can't even begin to describe how happy I was."

I felt wetness begin to pool around my eyelids. "I felt the metal contort around my body Jake. It didn't make sense that I wasn't in pain. When I passed out, I thought the shock was preventing me from it. Why didn't you bring us to the hospital?"

"You know how Charlie is, with making sure its Dr. Cullen that checks you out. I brought you back here. And, after Charlie called Dr. Cullen, he took Seth to the hospital."

Dr. Cullen has been my doctor since before I could remember. Charlie wasn't strict about much, but that was the one thing he was relentless on. Dr. Cullen had to be the only person to check me out. It was difficult when you had a klutz like me but since Charlie was never strict on anything but this, I didn't feel the need to have an opinion on it.

"Is Seth okay?"

"Yeah. They got back a little while ago. Charlie and Sue just wanted to check him out to make sure."

Jake began rubbing small circles on my cheek with his thumb. "Oh, okay. Good."

There was that moment again. Jake's eyes were cast down as I stared at his face. Jake's skin had a russet tone to it, and he had black hair with dark eyes. He's 6'7", and is extremely muscular. I've always seen Jake as handsome, even sort of beautiful. He is just a happy person who extends that happiness to the people around him. Jake is passionate and adventurous and that just made me want to be around him. I watched him grow from a lanky awkward boy to the man sitting in front of me.

Jake leaned in and hesitated. "Bella," he whispered.

My eyes stayed trained on his lips as he brought them to mine. Just as he lightly touched them to mine, a light knock sounded on my door and we both pulled back.

"Come in," I called out.

The door opened and a petite girl stood in the doorway. She had short, spiky, black hair that was pushed back with a purple headband that matched her dress perfectly.

"Hello, Bella. I'm Alice, Carlisle's daughter." She smiled brightly at me.

Dr. Cullen and his wife Esme had adopted five children. I had never met any of them, but it was well-known knowledge around town.

She walked towards me gracefully as I stared at her in awe. She looked at me, and then at Jake with a questioning look on her face.

Jake cleared his throat, "I'm Jake. Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure." She smiled. She looked around the room with a cautious stare, and then eyed me up and down. I knew I looked painfully ordinary to her with my pale complexion, straight brown hair and matching chocolate brown eyes. My face is heart-shaped with a wide forehead to go with my spaced eyes, prominent cheekbones, thin nose, and narrow jaw. My lips are out of proportion and too full for my jaw line. I have a slender 5'4" frame that I clothe regularly with jeans and t-shirts. I did not meet up to this pixie's expectations.

She grabbed my hands and placed them in her own. "Were going to be great friends."

I looked at Jake, who was fighting back a laugh and met her eyes again. "Okay."

"My father is waiting for you downstairs."

"Oh, alright."

I stood up and smoothed down my clothing as Alice shook her head disapprovingly. She grabbed my hand again, and we made our way down the stairs as Jake followed. I continually stared back at Jake pleadingly, but he did nothing but shake his head. He was clearly enjoying this. When we reached the final step I lifted my arm to push back my hair and looked up at the room around me.

My father was standing next to Carlisle, with a distraught look on his face. Carlisle just eyed me, clearly observing any abnormalities in my approach. Seth was sitting on the couch discussing baseball with an impossibly beautiful boy.

Sitting with perfect posture he listened to my brother talk animatedly. His face was perfect with high cheekbones, a strong jaw line, straight nose, and full lips. His hair had this unusual bronze shade that was styled in disarray. He looked up on my entrance, and stood to stand beside Carlisle. He had a slender but muscular build, and stood around 6'2".

He eyed me questioningly, seeming confused and frustrated, which I didn't understand.

"It's good to see you again, Bella," Carlisle spoke.

"You too."

"How are you feeling?"

"Good."

"Well I was wondering if I could take you back to our house and run some tests. You father said it would be okay."

"That's fine."

"Alright, well, if you're ready we'll head right out."

"I'm ready."

"Very well then." He turned to my father and placed his hand on my fathers back. "She's in good hands, Charlie."

Charlie nodded. "I know." Charlie walked over to me and wrapped me up in a hug that was uncharacteristic of him. "I love you, Bells. You know that right?"

"Of course I do. Love you too."

Charlie kissed the top of my forehead and walked over to Seth who just waved good bye to me, and mouthed "freak" with a playful smile on his lips. I turned around to find Jake scratching the back of his neck looking uncomfortable.

Carlisle spoke up, "We'll be in the car. Alice. Edward."

I heard their footsteps and the door open as they walked out. I met Jake's eyes.

"About what happened up-"

Jake cut me off. "We'll talk about it when you get back." He smiled beautifully at me. "It doesn't change anything."

I stood on my toes and ruffled his hair. "Bye, Jake."

He wrapped me in his arms and I heard him breathe me in. "Bye."

He released me, and I walked to the door, walking out to Carlisle's black Mercedes. It appeared the Cullen's were having a heated discussion. But, as I walked down the first step it abruptly stopped. I opened the car door and sat next to Alice.

Carlisle turned to me gesturing to the godlike creature sitting in the passenger seat, "Bella, this is my son, Edward."

He turned and met my eyes and the corner of his mouth picked up in a lopsided smile. "Hello."

"Hi."

He eyed me carefully once more before turning back around. Carlisle started the car and we drove off. The second the car was in motion Alice began talking… A lot. This was going to be a long drive.

****

We turned off on a dirt road that would have gone unnoticed by many, and pulled into a long driveway that led to the Cullen's massive home. It clearly had three stories and had a huge porch at the front of it. As I went to open the door, Edward appeared in front of it and opened it for me. I thanked him and followed Carlisle into the house.

The house was open and beautifully decorated. I stared in awe at my surroundings. I heard footsteps approaching and I met the eyes of four gorgeous people.

The only words that came from my mouth were, "Wow." I cleared my throat and gestured around me. "I mean, your house, it's gorgeous."

Carlisle leaned over, "My wife, Esme," he pointed to woman about my height with caramel-colored hair and a heart-shaped face with dimples smiling at me, "designed it."

"You did an amazing job."

"Why thank you. It's great to finally meet you, Bella."

I smiled in response. Alice walked over to a tall boy with honey blond hair with a muscular, but lean figure. His body was covered with crescent-shaped scars. The boy wrapped his arms around Alice, bending down to kiss her forehead.

"Bella," Alice began, "this is Jasper."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He spoke in a southern accent.

"Likewise."

Esme spoke again, "Bella, this is Emmett and Rosalie." She gestured to a tall, burly, extremely muscular guy who could give Jake a running for his money. He had slightly curly dark hair and dimpled cheeks that matched Esme's. Underneath his arm and crushed to his side was what had to be the most beautiful girl in the world. She was tall with amazing posture and had long, wavy blonde hair that fell to just above her waist.

Rosalie simply nodded curtly at me but Emmett rushed over and picked me up in a huge bear hug twirling me around the room.

"Emmett put her down," a voice I recognized to be Edward's warned.

Emmett erupted into a booming laugh, and placed me down, "What? You're all acting so proper and treating her like she's porcelain. It was driving me nuts."

I definitely liked Emmett. The rest of us laughed, and it was Esme who walked over to me and placed an arm around me. "It just we all heard so much about you, we didn't want to scare you away."

I heard Emmett chuckle slightly and saw Rosalie punch him lightly as Carlisle and Edward stared at him disapprovingly. "It's no big deal."

"Good. So have you had anything to eat?"

"No. Not since lunch, and that was before…" I paused not knowing how to describe it.

"Well, do you like Italian?"

"Her names Bella." Emmett called out.

I laughed. "Italians good."

"Okay, well, I'll get that set up for you while you're with Carlisle."

"Thank you." I smiled out.

"Ready Bella?" Carlisle questioned.

I drew in a breath, "As I'll ever be."

He placed his hand on the small of my back. "Right this way."

Carlisle led me down the hall to a wood furnished room, that I could only assume was his office. It was stacked with books and had a deep cherry wood desk that stood underneath a framed painting of Carlisle and three other men dressed like royalty.

He placed me in one of the two deep green leather chairs, and walked over to the other side of the desk, opening up one of his drawers and pulled out a syringe. I shivered. I hated needles.

"Still queasy of blood it seems," Carlisle stated.

I simply nodded feeling the blood drain from my face. My mouth became dry, and I began to wring my hands in my lap. I heard a soft knock and Carlisle welcomed whoever it was to enter. I turned to see Alice holding a bottle of water.

"I figured you might be thirsty," she said as she handed me the bottle.

"Thank you," I whispered.

"No problem,"

Alice walked back out of the room and I took a deep chug of the water, already feeling better. Carlisle walked to stand beside me, tying a rubber band on my upper arm, and wiping the inside of my elbow with alcohol. I avoided watching him draw the blood, and instead continued to look around the room. I felt the slight prick of a needle, and then the wiping of a gauze. Carlisle placed a band-aid on my arm, and grabbed a tiny light from his desk.

He checked my eyes and my reflexes while asking me questions about what had happened with the van. He simply nodded while I went on about my recollection of it, and explained everything in detail. When he was finished, he asked for me to go out and eat while he ran the test on my blood.

I stood up thanking him and made my way back into the living room where I found Edward sitting running his long fingers through his hair. He looked up, hearing my entrance and smiled the same crooked smile at me.

"Hungry?" he asked.

"Yes."

He stood up and walked over placing his hand on the small of my back. When we made contact, I felt a jolt of electricity spark between us. I knew he must have felt it too, since he paused in his stride. He stared at me with the same questioning look from before. He started to open his mouth as if to say something, but seemed to think better of it and shook his head.

"Right this way," he stated as he led me to a large kitchen with a marble island. He pulled out one of the chairs for me and I sat down.

Esme placed a plate of chicken parmigiana in front of me along with a glass of sprite.

"Thank you."

She smiled at me again, and looked from Edward to me, "You're welcome."

I took a bite of the chicken and felt it almost melt in my mouth. I hummed happily.

"This is delicious."

"Glad you like it," Esme responded.

I noticed I was the only one eating, "Isn't anyone else going to eat?" I looked around the room.

It was Edward who answered, "We already ate."

"Oh."

The Cullen's listened as Rosalie and Alice discussed a shopping trip they recently had. All of them listened, except for Edward, who felt more inclined to watch me eat. I looked up at him, arching my eyebrow slightly, questioningly.

"What are you thinking?" he asked.

All the Cullen's paused and looked in our direction. I felt like I was under scrutiny.

"Just about how close of a family you all are." He gave me a look as if to continue. "How even though you all seem so different, you get along."

"You just had this exultant look on your face, and your eyes brightened up." He paused, "I was just curious."

I chuckled lightly and resumed my eating.

"What?"

I shook my head. "Its just, Sue, my mom, she calls me her open book because I'm so easy to read."

"Actually," he began, and then cast his eyes down. "I find you very difficult to read."

I stared at him searching his face for meaning behind that statement. But when I found nothing, I finished my dinner. I stood up and walked to the sink to clean my plate, placing it in the dish washer. I turned around to find all the Cullen's still staring at me and Edward.

Thankfully Carlisle walked in, and right as I was about to question him about my tests the doorbell rang.

"That would be your father." Carlisle said as he walked out of the kitchen and towards the door.

I followed him, and saw my father still looking distraught as Carlisle led him in. I felt someone behind me, and turned to see Edward.

"Let's sit down."

"Uh… okay."

All the Cullen's, including my father and me, made our way into the living room. Edward sat beside me on the tiny love seat, and was rubbing soothing circles along my back. My father, along with Carlisle, sat on the two chairs facing us. Esme stood behind Carlisle with her hand on his shoulder. Alice was tucked into Jasper's side looking sad, along side her was Emmett who placed Rosalie on his lap on the couch.

Carlisle motioned for my father to begin, and I stared at him questioningly, wondering what he had to do with what was wrong with me.

"Bella, there's something I haven't told you." He drew in a shaky breath and picked his eyes up off the floor and finally meeting mine, "Sue isn't your mother."