Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight, any of the characters in Twilight, or anything related to the books and/or movies. If I did, I would be way too busy- doing dirty things with the Cullen boys- to sit down at my laptop and write this story. The scenes that I did borrow from Stephenie Meyer have been revamped to fit my story.

Learning to Live Again

Chapter Thirty-Four: Back to Reality

The day was going by so slowly. I was currently sitting in my Spanish class. We had just taken a test, and I was of course the first person done. I was staring out the window, listening closely to the ticking of the clock that hung above my teacher's desk. I only had one class left after this and then I could see Jasper again. He was picking me up from school and we were going to spend the evening alone.

After our family had spoken this morning, we had agreed that Rosalie would keep an eye on Charlie today to make sure that Victoria and her newborns didn't try to hurt him. Edward and Alice had rejoined Forks High School, so they were able to keep a lookout on me during the day. Jasper would watch me during the nights and hunt during the daytime.

Alice and I had snuck off school grounds at lunch so that I could call Jacob and explain Victoria's plan to him further. I had told him that we were postponing my change, and he was thrilled. I think he wanted to try and talk me out of it, but he couldn't understand how that was impossible. I asked him if the pack would help us instead of granting us a free pass on the treaty. He had been more than willing to agree, even after he'd learned how many vampires were after us.

Damn werewolves, always looking for trouble. He and I hadn't had the conversation yet, where we discussed how his being a werewolf and me being turned into a vampire would affect our friendship. I had had enough serious conversations recently, so I was fine with putting this one off for as long as possible. In the end, it wouldn't change anything if we would have the conversation now or wait until after we'd killed Victoria and her gang.

Lost in thoughts, I vaguely heard the bell ring that signaled it was time for our last class of the day. I gathered my backpack and walked amidst my classmates out of the room and was not surprised to find Alice and Edward already waiting for me. We all had trigonometry, and I hoped this would make the final hour go by quickly. Although I loved Edward as a brother, I was becoming frustrated with having him in so many of my classes. People kept staring at us, expecting a reunion or a fight. Couldn't they get their own lives? I had enough to worry about right now.

Obviously sensing my angst and discomfort, Alice reached over and grabbed my hand in her own. I looked at her from the corner of my eye and smiled. I truly did have an amazing family for a support system. We made it to our classroom and took a table at the back of the room. I wouldn't feel everyone's eyes on us this way. I was a good girl and copied the notes from the board, but I wasn't paying attention. I had already taken trigonometry in Phoenix, so this was more of a filler class than anything else.

An hour later, the final bell rang and I bolted from my seat with my bag clutched in my hand. Without waiting for Edward and Alice- because I knew they would have no problem keeping up with me- I ran through the crowded hallway. I only tripped once and was able to stop myself from falling to the ground. As soon as I pushed through the school doors, I saw Jasper leaning against his car waiting patiently for me.

I was in his arms in less than a minute, and I don't really remember who was responsible for that. I was so absorbed in our hello kiss that I didn't even notice Edward and Alice had come to stand near us and that there was a small crowd of students looking on, anticipating a scene. When Jasper finally broke away from the kiss, I took in my surroundings and couldn't control the blush from rising to my face. Without words, my wonderful vampire boyfriend led me to his car with no words and we sped out of the parking lot.

The plan was to go home and finish the small amount of homework that I had and then Jasper and I were going out. Or we were staying in. I didn't know what the exact plan was, because he wasn't telling me. We were also going to be meeting the pack with the rest of our family late tonight to go over fighting strategies for Victoria and her group of trouble-makers who were now starting to make the news. I had noticed this morning that there was a rising death toll in the suburbs near Port Angeles. Of course I felt guilty for it as well, because I was the one she was initially coming after.

"Stop, Bella. None of this is your fault," Jasper said as we pulled into my driveway. My empathetic boyfriend was always trying to make sure that I only felt good things about myself. Silly vampire. Doesn't he understand the inner workings of a teenage girl?

I said nothing as I got out of the car and slammed the door shut. I was walking up the front steps of the porch when he stopped me and pulled me into his arms. It was all it took for me to let the tears that I had been holding back finally break free from my eyes. I was feeling so many things and I didn't know how to let it out or get past it, so I cried in Jasper's arms. He didn't try to calm me down, understanding that I needed to go through these emotions.

We stood in front of my porch, holding onto each other for what seemed like an hour. In reality, it was probably just a few minutes. As I was about to pull back form Jasper to look up at him, I felt his body tighten. My head snapped up, and I saw a serious expression across his face as he looked towards the woods behind my house. Someone was out there.

"Go inside, Bella," Jasper instructed before he dropped a kiss on my forehead and took a step away from me toward the forest. I grabbed his arm before he could get a step away from me.

"Who's out there, Jazz?" I asked him, begging for it to not be the one person who wanted nothing more than to make my life miserable.

"It's not Victoria, but it is another vampire. I don't recognize their scent, so I want to check it out," he explained, resting his forehead against mine and pulling me tight against him.

"Call your brothers then, and you can all go investigate the strange noise you heard in the woods," I commanded. I knew that he wouldn't call Emmett and Edward. He would insist that that there wasn't enough time and he could lose the trail. We didn't say anything else. Jasper kissed me and ran into the forest before we could.

I pulled the cell phone that Jasper had recently ordered me to carry at all times and hit the speed dial four to reach my big brother. I heard the phone click and spoke before he could even greet me. "Emmett, get Edward and come to my house now. Jasper sensed there was another vampire near and he went to find him."

I heard a string of curses on the other end before the call was disconnected. I stood on my porch for the slow torture of two minutes before Emmett and Edward were standing in front of me with their game faces on. I didn't even realize that I had tear streaks running down my face.

"Alice and Rosalie are on their way back from Port Charles with Esme. They were shopping," Edward explained to me as Emmett ran off into the woods. "Alice got a vision that you had called us but it was almost too late by that point. They should be here soon."

"Edward, I just want this all to be over. I just want everyone to be safe and sound and that psychopath out of our lives," I whispered as my knees gave out and I fell against my ex-boyfriend. I was still for a moment, Edward's arms wrapped around me and holding me up. Then for the second time that day, I felt a vampire go stiff next to me.

"Well, well, well, take about a case of déjà vu."