Disclaimer: Twilight related = Stephenie Meyer, Lost in Austen related = Guy Andrews.

A/N: I told you I'd get working on it as soon as possible. So here's the new chapter. Time to change things up a little. My school holidays begin tomorrow afternoon so hopefully I'll have more time to myself to write and finish things off soon. As for now, enjoy, ignore my bad grammar and don't forget to review.

Return to Meyer

11. Alaska

The evening dragged on, hour by hour. Attempting to find ways to pass the time, I ate dinner, watched TV and even tried teaching Charlie a card game that was popular with my friends back home. I pushed all thoughts of Edward and Jacob towards the back of my mind, knowing that there was no point worrying about them. They were tough and could take whatever it was life threw at them. Besides, Edward could tear a vampires head off with his bare hands and Jake could shred them with a rip of his teeth.

"You okay kid?" Charlie asked, interrupting my mess of tangled thoughts. Hmm…to use the four or not to use the four. It was a complicated and important dilemma. One that I was happy to face rather than the out-of-this-world problems I'd been experiencing lately. Personally, I'd rather I curled up with a copy of my 'The O.C.' DVDs and deal with somebody else's drama than face my own. And sure enough, they have plenty of drama to go around in that show.

"I'm fine." I said, my mind working in a blur as I placed the four followed by several others before finally slapping the smaller card pile. "Except for the fact that I just beat you again," I grinned as I took my stack, happy in my achievement.

He returned the smile lightly, his eyes crinkling at the corners in the way that made him look years younger. "What about you? You seem to have been working a lot lately."

The smiled disappeared, replaced by a strong grimace. "Yeah," he admitted. "Some of the guys and I've been trying to hunt down those wolves attacking the bushwalkers."

I froze, my hands fixed on the pile of now evenly stacked cards. "Mmhmm," I mumbled, a little on the anxious side. He eyed me carefully.

"Somebody's gotta do it, Ash."

My hands resumed their attempts to shuffle as I nodded in mock understanding, "I get it. It's your job."

Deep down I could feel the sudden panic set in at the idea of Charlie straying too far at the wrong time and ending up meeting Laurent. Or worse…Victoria.

A shiver ran up my spine as I tried to hide it by shifting in my seat. Slapping the cards down on the kitchen table, I stood up. "I'm feeling kind of tired." Yeah, sure you're tired. Ask your dad. He knows you never admit to feeling tired.

Charlie leaned back in his seat casually. "Yeah, okay. I'll talk to you in the morning."

With a brief wave, I headed briskly upstairs to find a new outlet for my occupation.

** **** **

Somewhere between sleep and awake, I found myself staring drearily into the face of Bella's alarm clock. The light from the numbers filtered out into the darkness, hitting my face in a smudge. Every minute felt like an hour, and as much as I hated to admit it, watching the clock wasn't going to do a thing. I had no clue what was going on and it bothered me more than I liked. Yet, I was human and the only place for me was here. In bed. Watching the clock and waiting for someone, anyone to bring me some news.

Out of the black and silence, I felt a breath of air on my neck and a voice at my ear. "Chaotic thoughts?" it whispered against my skin. I shivered as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end. The only thing I knew was that it wasn't in a bad way.

"You could say that." I replied, trying to keep my voice at a similar volume. The last thing I needed was Charlie walking in, thinking that I was talking to myself.

I turned over slowly as the covers rustled around me. Beside me, my eyes could just make out Edward's shape. His eyes on the other hand, were almost luminescent. "I can barely see you." I pointed out with a smile.

A low chuckle sounded in the air as one of his hands reached up to brush against my cheek. "You're so human."

I shrugged. "Well, with 23 chromosone pairs, that was the idea." I told him teasingly. Staring deeply into his eyes, I felt a sense of relief. "Feeling better?"

He exhaled a sigh, "Much." He said simply.

I echoed his previous sigh, my unease showing through the body language. He picked up instantly. "What's bothering you?"

"Not bothering exactly." I said, choosing my words carefully. "It's just, I was wondering about your visiting Denali."

"There's nothing to worry about. Carlisle, Alice, Jasper and I are going to drive up there tomorrow. The others are saying behind…just in case." He didn't need to explain to me why this was necessary. "It'll take a while getting there but driving the way we do, it'll be faster than the average trip."

"And once you do get there? What then?"

"We talk." He said simply. "Try to work this out peacefully. Carlisle doesn't want to broach the subject of war but if Laurent refuses to agree and the others choose to defend him, it isn't out of the question."

Another possibility occurred to me. "What about the Voltori? They deal with things that could lead to your exposure, don't they? And with the way this is going it could end up that way –"

He broke in vehemently, "No. None of us want the Voltori involved. We'll sort this out amongst ourselves." I wasn't about to disagree with this. The last thing we needed was the Voltori coming around and asking questions about the particular human who somehow happened to know a lot of things about the vampire world. Namely, me.

"Alright," I agreed. "But, one thing."

"What?"

I paused for a moment before asking my request. "I want to come to Denali."

Despite my lack of sight, it didn't take a genius to work out that he would be unhappy about this. "Fine, I'll take you there next spring."

"You know that's not what I meant."

"No." He said firmly.

Frowning, I felt my lips sink into an unrestrained pout. "Why? They're vegetarians like you. And its not like Laurent is even going to try to hurt me with you all there. He's not stupid." I reasoned.

"Ashley," he sighed. "You're around supernatural creatures as much as it is. I won't willingly put you in a situation where you could be harmed."

"Edward," I tried again.

"No," he repeated.

Seeing no other way to make him change his mind, I stooped lower. "Fine, I'll get Alice to take me. You won't all travel in the same car. And you know she will." Playing the Alice card. That really is low Ashley.

"She wouldn't dare." He replied, his temper flaring up. At that moment I believed fully that nobody sane would dare cross him.

Okay, try again. "Okay, I guess I just see what Jacob's doing over the next couple of days. Hey, maybe we'll invite the rest of pack and make it a party." To my own ears it sounded like a threat, then again, that's probably what it was. I had resulted to using Jake against him. Gosh, I was bad.

"Ashley," he growled, a note of helplessness in his voice.

Reaching out, I placed a finger over his lips, silencing him. "Look, all I want is to go to Alaska. I won't get hurt. I'll stay out of trouble, I promise." I cringed at the sound of my voice. I had started to sound like whiny child, begging their parents to let them go out with their friends. Ugh! He's my boyfriend. Not my dad.

By the quiet I was faced with, I could tell he was thinking the decision over this time. Leave me here to spend time with werewolves he deemed unsafe or take me with him where he could make sure I was safe? Not a hard choice.

An exhale of air from his position showed me that the odds had turned in my favour. "Is that a yes?" I asked eagerly.

"It's a…possibly." He pushed out. "Why is it that you want to go so badly anyway?" the curiosity plain in his voice.

I grinned broadly at the question. "Why else? It's something new."

** **** **

The conversations about my "trip" with both Jacob and Charlie had been so similar but yet so different. Even being unaware of certain information that Jake was privy to, Charlie was still uneasy about me driving to Alaska with Edward. When he heard that Carlisle and Alice were going too, the feelings eased slightly. Although, Charlie had never been much of a front where Alice was concerned.

"You're going where?" Charlie asked bluntly, his face a mask of confusion.

"Denali, Alaska." I repeated.

He seemed to do a sort of double take as the words attempted to register. "Why?"

It was at this moment that I was thankful for Alice to do the talking. Lies were so not my thing. "Our family has some friends up in Alaska that we've been eager to see for a while now. They've heard about Ashley from Carlisle and are eager to meet her so we asked if she wanted to come along for the trip." Alice explained calmly. "It'll only be for a couple of days and we'll take perfectly good care of her." Seeing his reluctance, Alice tried the parental approach. "If you'd like, I could ask Carlisle to call you and give you the details. I keep my cell on me at all times so if there are any problems you can ring this number." She quickly pulled out a white card with a set of numbers written on it in neat flowing script and handed it to him.

Charlie glanced back and forth between the number, Alice and I, the gears working quickly inside his head. Finally he spoke. "You'll call me when you get there?" He asked, his voice gruff.

I nodded. "Of course,"

"Just for a couple of days, right?" He checked with Alice.

She smiled brightly, "We'll be back before you know it."

"And I don't want you sleeping in the same room as Edward." He told me firmly. I rolled my eyes, trying to contain my embarrassment.

"Don't worry. She'll bunk in with me." Alice reassured him. She turned to me with an evil glint in her eye, "And don't expect to get any sleep."

I laughed. Little did Charlie know, I would be the only one getting any sleep over the next few days. Well, the only one who would need it.

The conversation with Jacob was a little harder…

"You're going where?"

I sighed, sick of this question. "Alaska, Jake."

He ran a hand back through his dark hair in frustration, his eyes fixed on me. "With the bloodsucker and his family." It wasn't a question.

"Yes, with the Cullens."

His face fell into a scowl, brows furrowed. "Why?" His tone was harsh. I flinched.

"Actually, we're going to sort out your hiker problem." I explained.

"My hiker problem?" he shot out.

"Fine, our hiker problem. The Cullen's hiker problem, whatever. It's still a problem that needs to be sorted out." I snapped.

"You're not going." He said, equally as firmly as Edward's original answer.

I rolled my eyes. "You sound like Edward."

He smiled sardonically. "Then I guess we agree on something for once."

Groaning, I shifted my feet. "Don't do this Jacob. Just say good luck and I'll see you soon. I don't need this crap."

"You call trying to keep you safe crap? You know what Ashley, fine. Go ahead. Go to Alaska. I don't care." He turned around and began heading in the opposite direction.

Again, I groaned, looking upwards at the darkened sky. "Why the hell do fictional characters have to be such drama queens? Especially the boys," I mumbled at the sky before taking off after him. "Jake, don't be like that. I know you mean well, it's just that there's nothing to worry about. I'll be perfectly fine. You'll see."

He grunted, his back turned towards me. "I'll take that as a yes." I told him brightly, keeping up our now one sided conversation.

"I am going to hug you now. So if you're going to protest, do it now. Not that it'll do any good." I warned him as I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind. Pressing my face into the back of his t-shirt, I felt him sigh.

"Ash?" I heard him say.

I looked up, my arms still around him.

"Sometimes you make it really hard to stay angry at you."

** **** **

After ending up in the Volvo with Edward and Alice, I spent the majority of an extremely long trip watching the scenery pass by, reading and drifting in and out of sleep while Edward drove like his usual speed demon self. The last couple of days had worn me out as much as I hated to admit it and I'd always found that long car trips involving no physical activity somehow managed to tire you out a lot. It was a quiet drive, Edward still clearly unhappy with the fact that I was coming along for the ride and Alice, her eyes closed, focusing on the many different areas of the future that she'd been asked to keep an eye on. I took her silence as reassurance that everything was okay, she would have told us if something had happened. Not to mention, Edward would have reacted to the picture flashing through her mind.

Low volume music played in the background, an old Linkin park CD followed by various others I couldn't seem to make out. I sang along quietly to the songs I knew but at one point during the music when my eyes darted towards the rear-view mirror, I could have sworn I saw Edward smiling.

"Ashley?" Alice's voice called softly as I felt a light touch on my shoulder, stirring me. "We're here." She said as my eyes flickered open. Her eyes were wide and she seemed a little strained but I could tell she was happy to be out of the confines of the car. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jasper and Carlisle pulling up beside us.

From the amount of light coming in the car, it was day. Probably late afternoon, I guessed.

Unclasping the seatbelt, I swung my legs around and hopped out of the door, shutting it behind me.

Alice and Edward stood waiting for me on the pathway up to, like the Cullen's, a beautifully designed house. Wide arched windows, secluded tree areas, wooden panelling and above us a grey and clouding sky. The place practically screamed vampire hideaway. Well, to me anyway.

As I reached Edward, he wrapped a hand around my back, slowly guiding me up to the house. "Nice place." I commented, eyeing the exterior.

"It's a fault of families like ours. We like our space." Carlisle said, looking a little guilty as he approached.

I grinned, "That, and your extremely fast cars."

"Well, yes." He admitted.

Sure enough, further up the drive was a smooth, silver and shiny car. It stood as though it's headlights were eyes, watching my every step. Still, I had to admit, it was a beautiful car. If you liked that sort of thing, that is.

"Eleazar's a fan of the Mercedes Benz." Edward told me, following my gaze.

"Surprise, surprise," I said sarcastically.

Quickening my pace in order to keep up with the Cullen's lengthy strides, we followed Carlisle up the drive until we reached the house. By this point, members of Tanya's family were already waiting for us. With everyone in the vicinity apart from myself having vampire hearing, I shouldn't have been surprised but it still felt a little odd.

Suddenly, two female vampires came into view. Both were blonde, golden eyed and absolutely gorgeous down to the last facial feature. It wasn't hard to see why these two had been called succubus during one period of their lives. As if any man could possibly resist that level of perfection?

One of the two vampires stood further back than the other, a set of slim, leather gloves over her hands. Thinking back to Breaking Dawn, I searched my memory for a vampire that would have reason to wear gloves in the present weather conditions. Kate. As far as I recall, Kate's particular ability involved an electric current constantly running underneath her skin. Often it shocked those who came in contact with it. I doubted the gloves would do much to contain it but that was her call, not mine.

Turning my attention to the vampire beside her, I felt my mind go blank. Strawberry blonde waves fell in long waves down her back while her smiled revealed a set of brilliantly white teeth.

Like the Cullens both were dressed extremely well, adding to the glamour of their appearance. In amongst it all I felt extremely underdressed. Not just in terms of dress was I out of place but also in species.

Returning my attention the gorgeous second blonde I had yet to come up with a name for, I felt my limbs freeze.

Carlisle approached the pair equally warmly, his arms outstretched. Reaching out for the vampire without gloves he took her hands in his, kissing her swiftly on the cheek before uttering the name I had been forcefully preparing myself to hear.

"Tanya,"

A/N: There you go, finally something is "happening." I know, it's a little weird at the moment but I'm working on it. Writing these characters is going to be a little difficult considering that I haven't read Breaking Dawn in a while so if they seem a little OOC at times, forgive me. I'm trying my best. Although if I do do something you think is wrong, comment and let me know. I'll do my best to fix it. Anyway, for now, review so I can hear your thoughts. Hope you're enjoying the story. I'll get working on the next chap soon.

Next Time on Return to Meyer: Ashley and the Cullens are finally in the position to sort things out in Alaska, but when accusations begin flying around and mates become protective of their partners, will their welcome be worn out prematurely? And with Laurent back on the human blood diet and Ashley looking extremely tempting from across the room, is the only human in the vicinity at risk?

Next Time.