Hey there! Thanks for the wonderful reviews I got for last chapter. Keep them coming. I'm sorry it took me so long to reply but I really had to study. My math test went well. Better than I expected. Next and last one is biology, next Friday, but I'm not very worried because I understood everything during the classes. The teacher speaks very loud so we can't do anything else but to pay attention. LOL Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy. REVIEW and let me know if you liked it. HUgs

Disclaimer: SM owns The Twilight saga and all its characters.

Chapter 8

Luke's POV

Everyone was silent in the Cullen's living room. I was absolutely horrified at the scene in front of my eyes. This couldn't happen! Bella's body rested limp on Kurt's arms. She looked like she was dead. If I didn't know better I would have thought that. She wasn't dead but the state she was in wasn't much better.

"Bella! Bells?" Kurt cried desperately shaking her body. "Bella wake up! Open your eyes! You're stronger than this! No... NO!"

I got up from the place I had been kneeling and took two steps back. All I wanted to do was continue kneeling beside my brothers, trying to wake Bella. Hoping she would. But I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"It's useless!" I stated feeling helpless. There was only one thing we could do now. "We have to call Aro."

"No wait! She's going to wake. She's not going to do this to us. Not again. She... "But he too was resigned. He knew what had happened. I touched my jeans' pocket, hoping to find my cell phone, but it wasn't there.

"Damn it! I forgot my cell phone!" I said. By then Scott was up too.

"I don't have mine either." He said.

"Bella has hers." Kurt quietly replied. He seemed calmer. Defeated. And didn't know if that was a good sign. He reached for her jeans' front pocket and grabbed the small cell phone handing it to me.

I quickly found the number I was looking for and pressed the call button as I lifted the little blue device to my ear.

I was trying to keep myself calm for my brothers. This wasn't easy for any of us, especially when we were very well aware of the consequences it could bring. But I had to do it. We couldn't break all at the same time.

I hadn't taken my eyes off of Bella, still hoping she would react in any way, making this phone call unnecessary, though deep down I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Bella." Aro pleased voice sounded from the other side of the line.

"No Aro, it's Luke."

"Luke? "What are you doing with your sister's cell phone? I thought Kurt was the one that lost his cell phone all the time."

"I let mine at home." I answered simply, trying to keep my voice calm.

"Luke... I know you... Something's wrong... What happened? What's going on?" Worry filled his voice. He really cared about Bella. I wanted to speak but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. "Luke, are you still at the Cullen's house?"

"Yes."

"How did it go?"

"Bad. We shouldn't have let her come. We should have known." I blurted, guilt dripping from my voice.

"What happened? Where is Bella?"

"She's here but... she... she... it happened again Aro." I said. I knew he understood what I meant.

"It was not your fault, Luke! There was nothing you could have done."

"Yes it is. We should have done something... we should have stopped him... we had to protect her."

"Stop blaming yourselves for this, that won't help your sister..."

"What will? No one can help her. There's nothing we can do to help her. And we're worried... Aro... do you think it's going to happen now?" He knew what I was referring to.

"How bad was it?" I could feel the Cullens' stares in my back.

"What he told her... she didn't deserve to hear any of that... he didn't even let her talk..."

"Master..." I heard somebody call in the background. Aro had probably called someone.

"Angelo is here Luke. Do you think you could...?" I knew what Aro wanted. Angelo could receive and transmit thoughts. Aro wanted me to send my memories to Angelo so that he could see what had happened.

"Of course." I answered, starting to play the last few minutes in my head. From the moment Edward realized it was Bella until I called Aro. "So?" I asked impatiently when I finished.

"I don't know... maybe... I..." Suddenly the phone was ripped from my hand by Kurt. Scott had taken his place. Bella's head was in his lap as he slowly caressed her emotionless face.

"The hell you don't Aro. You have to tell us. You have to give me an answer. Is she going to be okay?" Kurt screamed to the phone.

"Kurt, I can't give you an exact answer." I heard Aro answering.

"What are the odds of her waking up?" Kurt asked, his voice quivering a little.

"You listen to me…" Aro spoke. "I can't tell you for certain that she will or that she won't wake up but from what I can estimate, we should not set our hopes too high. There's only so much she can handle and we all know that one day one of these episodes will be more serious than they have been. Let's just hope it's not this time. Bella knew this could happen." We froze at his words.

"Is that supposed to be a nice way of telling us that the most likely is that our sister is going to stay like this… forever?" Kurt asked hesitating on the last word. Now that he had said it out loud it seemed more possible than we wanted to believe. "That can't happen! We can't have it that way. We need Bella!"

"She can stay that way for as long as she wants. It's a favor she does to me." A sneering voice was heard on the other side of the line.

"Jane! OUT!" Aro's voice sounded warningly dangerous. Of course Jane would love if Bella stayed like this forever. She absolutely loathed our sister.

"THAT FILTHY LITTLE SNAKE!" Kurt bellowed growling. I took the cell phone from his hands before he could crash it in a moment of fury.

"Calm down Kurt!" I said. He looked like he was about to explode with all the anger that was accumulating inside of him.

"Look guys… Let's not think like that. Bella always surprises us. Maybe she will wake up. I want that too, you know? Bella is also important to me." Aro said.

"What if you're right? What if she never comes back for us?" Kurt's voice was low and defeated. Had he really accepted that already? Was he really going to lose his hope?

"We cannotthink like that Kurt!" I said vehemently. I turned my attention back to the phone. "Don't worry Aro. I'm sure everything is going to be fine. We'll take care of her." My voice filled with confidence that I did not felt.

"Let me know if anything changes." Aro responded before the line went mute. I shut the small phone and put it in my jeans' pocket.

Kurt had returned to Bella, pulling her off Scott's lap and to his arms. Scott got up, his eyes full of guilt as he looked at our sister's peaceful face.

"This is not your fault!" I told him. "There is only one to blame in this room and it's not one of us." I said glancing at Edward for less than a second.

"Luke… I…"

"Scott… this is not the place. That conversation can wait. Bella is our priority now."

"You're right."

"You and Kurt will take her to Charlie's." It was curious as we still referred to our house in Forks as Charlie's. Habit maybe. Before Scott could question it Kurt's voice came from behind of us.

"No!" I'll stay. I still have things to say!" His eyes held so much fury that I wasn't sure I should let him stay. I wouldn't be able to stop him by myself if he tried something. But I surely wouldn't be able to make him leave with Scott either.

"Okay." I accepted. "Scott, take her and maybe you should change her clothes, these are a bit wet. Maybe you should wash and dry her hair too. We don't want her complaining when she wakes up, right?" Kurt looked at me, his eyes back to golden for a moment. He held my gaze and seemed to search my for something in my eyes… maybe the same confidence my voice had hold when I said that Bella would wake up. I don't know if he found what he was looking for.

"Sure." Scott agreed. I grabbed Bella's cloak from the chair where she had left it and with my brothers' help put it on her. No need for her clothes to get wetter on the way. Kurt grabbed his cloak too. Scott and I stared confused.

"It's raining heavily outside. My cloak will protect her more." He explained. We should have brought a car but Bella had been so nervous, she preferred to run.

Scott put his cloak on and picked Bella up bridal style. Kurt kissed her forehead and whispered in her ear.

"It's going to be fine lil' sis. Just come back to us soon." He then turned to Scott. "Run as fast as you can. I'll meet you in a few. What I have to say won't take much time." In less than half a second Scott was out of the door.

It was time to face the Cullens. I had been aware of them trying to figure what had happened to Jasper but also following our talk with Aro.

Both Kurt and I turned to the Cullens and when Kurt's eyes met with Edward's he let out a loud, menacing growl. I instantaneously put my hand on his shoulder to restrain him from lunging at Edward and finish what he was going to do before Bella stopped him.

Don't do anything foolish! Think of Bella! She would be crushed. He looked at me.

I am thinking of Bella. I'm thinking about how much she did for him in the past eighty years and how the only thing he did to thank her was break her heart. I'm thinking about how much she has been through because of him. His words rang in my head like if he had screamed them.

Are you sure you want to stay? Maybe you should just go and help Scott.

"No!" He said out loud.

Just don't do anything stupid!

I won't. Not now anyway. I'm just going to say what I have to say and leave.

He looked away from me and once again he locked his eyes on Edward's, taking to steps towards him.

"You have one week!" His voice was cold and intimidating. "If Bella does not wake in within a week, and your disgusting presence still graces -" Irony dripped from his voice. "- this world, I'll come here and kill you. You and everyone else who tries to get in my way." He glanced at the other Cullens but quickly returned to Edward. "You should also know that if you're standing there right now it's because Bella stopped me, otherwise you would be dead. You're just lucky Bella is such a good person. Anyone in her shoes, after all you said, would not move one finger to stop me."

"Kurt!" I warned. He looked like he was about to pounce on Edward. My warning seemed to have some effect as he turned to walk away but then stopped like if he had forgot to say something and looked back at Edward.

"Just a little advice. If I were you, I'd watch my back; there are a lot of vampires who won't be happy about what you've done. Not that it will do much good, no matter who comes you won't be able to run away, but I would really like to kill you myself." I had never seen Kurt like this but I didn't really blame him. The only thing that was keeping me from killing Edward myself was the knowledge that Bella would not want it.

He turned to look at me. Will you stay?

Yes.

Why?

To explain them what happened to Bella. They're worried.

"I don't fucking care! They don't deserve to know. We owe them nothing!" He replied aloud furiously.

"He definitely doesn't deserve but the others care. You know it!"

"Whatever. Just don't take too long. We'll have to call David to let him know and Henry will want to talk to one of us when he finds out." Be careful! He warned mentally. But I knew none of the Cullens would attack me.

I nodded and he took off disappearing into the dark night. I looked at the Cullens. The family that my little sister had always dreamed of officially belonging to. I wondered if they had any idea of how wonderful Bella is. They hadn't spent that much time with her. Compared to all the years that we've been with her… it was nothing but then Bella was never completely herself with us. There was a part of her missing, a part of her heart. The piece that would forever remain with Edward and this family.

"What happened to Bella? To Jasper?" Alice's panicked voice was the only sound in the room. Jasper was already seated on the couch.

"Jasper should hunt… though I'm not sure you have enough strength to do it…." I wondered.

"I'm not that thirsty." He replied.

"No, but you're weak. You won't feel better until you get some blood into your system." I stated.

"How do you know?" he asked.

"I have some animal blood in the fridge for emergencies. I'll go get it." Carlisle said. He came back a second later holding a bottle filled with blood that he handed to Jasper.

"I've lived with Bella for seventy years. Believe me when I say you'll feel better." I didn't care to explain further.

"Are you going to tell us what happened to Bella now?" Carlisle asked, putting his arm around a sobbing Esme and pulling her to the couch.

"Please." Alice begged. "Is she going to be okay?"

Before I could answer Bella's phone buzzed in my pocket. I quickly pulled t out and looked at the ID. David.

"Shit!" I cursed. "Give me just a moment." I asked stepping a few feet away from the place where the Cullens were standing. Not that it would do much good since they would still be able to listen to everything but… I answered the call.

"WHEN THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING TO TELL ME ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED?" David's furious voice blared from the small device.

"Dave…" I tried.

"DON'T Luke! SHE'S MY SISTER TOO! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I'm still at the Cullens. Scott and Kurt took her home. Who told you?"

"Aro. Why are you still there?"

"To explain what happened." I curtly answered.

"Are you serious? Why in hell would we explain anything to them? After everything they did?"

"They didn't do anything. He did. The rest of the family cares about Bella. They don't deserve to pay for his mistakes. You should have seen…"

"What? How broken my sister was? How much this cost her? I know. It can cost her life!" He persisted.

"Look. This is not the time. We'll talk later!"

"Just keep me updated." Then the line went mute. Damn! Why was he being so difficult? Didn't he understand that I am as hurt with Bella's condition as him? Did he not understand that I am suffering as much? I'm just trying to handle everything calmly. We can't break all at the same time. Someone has to keep everything together. And right now that person is me.

I went back to the Cullens and sat next to Esme on the couch. I put my elbows in my knees and rested my head in my hands, looking at the pattern on the floor, hoping it would calm me. It wouldn't help if I just started screaming with the Cullens.

"It's going to be alright." Esme said patting my shoulder reassuringly. Bella had always talked about Esme's kindness and motherly ways. Having lost my mother a long time ago, I never thought it would make me feel so well. In another situation, I would have believed her words but now she just didn't know enough.

"I wish you were right Esme but this is a lot more complicated than you know." I sighed.

"Then explain us! What happened to Bella? Who was at the phone?" Alice pressured.

"It was David on the phone. He's our brother too but he couldn't come because of his job. And right now he's pissed off. Bella better wake up or this will destroy our family."

"What do you mean? What the hell is happening to Bella?" Emmett asked impatiently.

"What I meant is that if Bella doesn't wake up, our family won't survive! We won't be able to handle it! She's a very important piece in our family and no one is ready to let her go!"

"Wake up? Vampires don't pass out nor do they sleep." Jasper stated confused.

"Bella is too special for her own good. This has to do with Bella's power. As some of you already know Bella's power, besides her shield, is similar to Jasper's. While he can feel and manipulate people's emotions, Bella can absorb people's feelings.

"Absorb?" Jasper questioned.

"Yes, for example you're feeling sad, she can take your sadness away. You won't feel happy but you won't feel sad either. Eventually other emotions replace the one that was absorbed." Jasper's face lightened with comprehension.

"Then what happened? Has this happened before?" Alice asked.

"Yes it has happened before. You see,… Bella's power has made her more vulnerable, more sensitive to her own feelings. When it's too much for her to handle, her brain shuts down. Almost like if she was in a coma. Her body activity is reduced to the minimum. As she is a vampire, some activities like breathing are not necessary so they are not executed. Therefore it looks like she's dead."

"Then this is all Edward's fault?" Alice asked, her voice boiling with anger.

"The nonsenses your brother said added to the fact that she was blocking the three of you overwhelmed her, causing this." I explained.

"But she's going to be okay, right? This has happened before and she was great, right? What was Aro saying about her not waking up?" Alice started to panic.

"Bella was never great Alice and I'm not sure she'll be fine this time. That's what Aro was saying."

"What exactly does that mean?" Edward spoke for the first time since Bella had passed out.

"It means that because of you, Bella can stay like this forever." I screamed, looking at him. The entire room went silent. Not because of my outburst but because of what I had just told them. They all stared shocked at me.

"So… Bella may never wake up? Is that what you're saying?" Alice cried, disbelief and fear filling her voice.

"Yes that's what I meant." I answered with a defeated voice. I saw jasper hugging her tightly against his body, trying to comfort her. But knowing the depth of her friendship with Bella, I knew that only the assurance that Bella would be fine would bring her some comfort. As she couldn't cry she started dry sobbing.

"But you said this had happened before and she woke up! Why is this time different?" She demanded.

"Every time this happens it takes her more time to recover than the last time. After we moved in with Bella she went through some really bad times and this happened a few times. Aro informed us that one day it could just be too much and that if this happened a lot of times, one day she could not recover."

"How long was she out the last time?" Carlisle questioned.

"About five days. It also depends on how strong are the emotions she goes through." When I stopped talking I noticed Alice had her eyes closed and a look of concentration on her face. I knew what she was trying to do and I also knew it was not going to work.

"It's not worth it Alice. You won't be able to see the outcome of this. While Bella is in this state her shield is automatically blocking all powers."

"You said it also depends on how strong are the emotions she goes through, how can you know…" Alice trailed off looking at me.

"Because I know Bella. I know that nothing could cause her more pain than what your brother said. But why don't you ask jasper how he felt? On those last seconds, Bella wasn't able to block anyone's powers. That's what happened to Jasper. He felt what Bella was feeling. I'm sure Edward also received his share of thoughts from Bella." Everyone turned to Jasper.

"There's no way to describe it. I don't know how she could handle that for all that time, I don't know how she didn't scream. I had never felt anything like that. The emotional pain was so much worse than physical pain. But then it became physical pain. My head seemed like it was going to explode and my chest… It was like someone was ripping me apart. It was torture. Pure agony…." It looked like he was reviving everything again.

"I have to go now…" I started.

"Wait!" Alice pleaded. "Do you think Bella will wake up?"

"Honestly… I believe she will. She wouldn't do this to us. She knows that if something happens to her we won't be able to handle it. Bella is important to a lot of people and she knows it." I was not only trying to convince her but also myself.

"Thanks you." She said, escaping Jasper's embrace and throwing her arms around me, hugging me tight.

"For what?" I asked hugging her back. It was a shame that Edward was such an idiot. I would have loved to spend more time with Alice and the other Cullens.

"For believing." She answered simply going back to Jasper and shooting me a small smile.

"Kurt said there will be more vampires that will want to come after Edward…" Esme spoke, trailing off and looked at me. Even though there was disappointment in her eyes, I could see the love she had for her son.

"Yes." I answered. "Bella has very close friends among the most powerful members of the Volturi guard. Some of them may want to revenge her. Here." I said handing Esme a piece of paper with my cell phone number. "If you notice something or discover the scent of other vampires call me immediately. I know that Kurt won't come but I can convince Scott and we'll come to help you."

"We can perfectly fight them off." Edward said.

"Don't be stupid. Some of them could finish you all off before you notice. The Volturi have trained their guards a lot more over the last few years. And there's also the wolves…"

"They wouldn't break the treaty…" Jasper spoke.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. Bella has a unique relationship with them; she's part of the family. But I'll ask Scott to go talk to them tomorrow."

"In how much trouble are we in?" Jasper questioned.

"It depends on who comes. Bella's friends are very… talented who won't be happy as soon as they hear the news."

"Why are you helping us?" Rosalie asked.

"Because I knew it would crush Bella to wake up and have you all dead. Besides you don't have to pay for his mistakes." I answered looking at Edward. He seemed a little shaken, like if he was suddenly realizing what he had done. A bit late for that if I do say so myself.

"I really have to go now, my brothers may need my help and there are a lot of things to take care of.

"Will you leave Forks now?" Carlisle inquired.

"No. I don't think so. I think we'll be staying a few more days to see if Bella wakes up. And so that we can be closer in case some of Bella's friends decide to show up."

"Oh! Can I go see Bella tomorrow?" Alice asked.

I wasn't sure of what to answer. Not because I didn't want her to go but because I didn't know how she would react. It's not easy to deal with it. She noticed my hesitation.

"It's okay if I can't. I understand." She added, her face falling even more.

"No, it's fine, you can go. But don't go alone. Maybe you can take Jasper with you. It's just not easy to see Bella like that. Even for us, that it's not the first time, it's hard."

"Thank you and I'm sorry…" She answered.

"It's not your fault. We just have to believe that she will be fine. Maybe it will help her."

I was turning to leave when I realized that I still had something to say to Edward. So I turned around again so that I was facing him.

"You know what Edward? You're a fool. An idiotic and arrogant fool. And you were such a… disappointment. During all these years, I formed an image of you that today I found it was completely wrong. The way Bella talked, the things she said made me think that maybe you were… good for her. Maybe you two were meant to be and tonight you proved me wrong. Since I found out about Bella's story I've been trying to convince her to come and talk to you, work things out. She was so depressed sometimes. And I just wanted to see her smile. A real smile. A smile of pure happiness. I understood her reasons, her fears, but I still wanted her to at least try. I actually believed it would work out. And do you know how I feel now? I fell like I've pushing her to the precipice instead of keeping her from falling like I should have done. You just committed the biggest mistake of your existence by tossing away what others would have given everything to have: Bella's love."

"I thought Bella hadn't dated during all these years…" Rosalie pointed.

"She hasn't but that doesn't mean that she doesn't have admirers." I responded. "I really have to leave now."

"Luke!" Alice called." I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure Alice. See you tomorrow." I confirmed before taking off.

I hope this chapter explained everything. If you have any questions just REVIEW and ask me. I'll gladly answer. Thank you for being so supportive. I'll be waiting for your wonderful reviews. Next chapter Edward will finally realize the huge mistake he did. REVIEW and I'll try to update as soon as I can. HUgs