I've been trying to post this for at least a week. Trying something a little different tonight. It's frustrating because it's been a long time, and this just makes it longer!

Stephenie Meyers' characters… you know the drill.

Chapter 9

The ride to Anacortes was quiet. Edward was still a little cranky, but we held hands as he drove at his normal (meaning maniacal) speed toward the little harbor town. I had to admit I was getting accustomed to 90+ mph, although I still did a little side-seat driving from time to time, much to his chagrin.

I loved my truck, but sometimes it seemed like I could almost get out and walk faster. Edward had said the same thing many times, but of course he actually could.

"Carlisle for you, Edward," Alice announced.

"Thank you, operator. Why don't you just save us all the trouble and tell me why he'll be calling?" replied a snarky Edward just before his phone beeped.

True to Alice's ladylike sensibilities, she promptly stuck out her tongue at her beloved brother.

"Carlisle," Edward said in a business-like monotone. He listened for a few seconds, responded in bee buzz for a few seconds, but then finally caught my if-looks-could-kill glare.

"Ummm… Carlisle? Let me put you on speaker so Bella can hear the conversation," Edward said wisely.

"Bella, glad you're listening. We all need to be on the same page," Carlisle said by way of welcoming me. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Aro is recalling Jane and company back to Italy."

I gulped. That was great news, which made me think the bad news was going to be really bad. "Do I even want to know the bad news?" I asked with trepidation.

"Probably not. The bad news is, Aro is merely regrouping and is intent on having a face-to-face meeting with Fred," Carlisle said through a long exhale. "He's very interested in Fred's gift."

"He wants Fred to go to Italy?" I asked, alarmed.

"Yes."

"Is that part of the good news or the bad?" I asked.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Carlisle answered. "Aro would never admit it, of course, but I'm convinced he is afraid of what Fred can do. He wants me to study Fred's abilities and give him a full report before the meeting."

"Coward," Edward spat out. "He just wants to know which of his guard to have on hand to give him the best advantage."

"That's correct," Carlisle agreed. "Aro isn't stupid. He did the same thing when he brought in Jane and Alec. Either of them could have incapacitated him, his brothers, and his guard. He had to be assured they were loyal and most of all, controllable before he allowed them in his presence. As much as I hate to admit it, if I were in his position, I'd probably do the same, and so would you, son."

Edward scowled, mostly because he knew Carlisle was right.

"I'll have the family together when you get home. I suppose you don't need to rush now, but I would appreciate it if you came back as soon as possible so we can begin strategizing."

"Will everyone just hold on here? Excuse me for interrupting while you all plan my future for me, but don't I have any say in the matter?" Fred asked indignantly. "You're all talking about me like I'm your property or something. I may be a newbie compared to all of you, but I still have a will of my own. What if I don't want to go to Italy and be a lab rat for this Aro guy?"

"You make a very good point, Fred, and I'm sorry for assuming we know what's best for you," Carlisle gently replied. "I don't know if you've heard much of my history, but I spent many years with the Volturi, so I tend to presume I need to come to the rescue whenever they are involved. Forgive me."

"I'm not saying I don't want your help, because I really do. I'm totally out of my element here," Fred admitted. "I'd just like to know that I'll be making decisions for myself. I don't want anything thinking they're going to deliver me to these Volturi with a big red bow on my head." He gave Edward a pointed look, reminding him of his words from the park.

"No, of course not," Carlisle said. "We'll give you our best advice based on what we know, but in the end, it will be your call. All of you just get back here and we'll figure it out from there. See you soon."

After that phone call, nobody really had much to say. We eventually fell into small talk about various facets of our lives, but if the others were like me, the looming threat of the Volturi was not far from anyone's mind.

We boarded the last ferry of the day in the late afternoon. Alice and Jasper stayed in the car with Fred, keeping him out of trouble with so many humans on board, while Edward and I went up to the large passenger deck.

"You didn't tell Fred about Aro's ability, did you…" I said more than asked.

"Honestly, it didn't come up earlier, but as Carlisle was talking, Jasper thought to me that we should keep that detail to ourselves for the time being."

"Why?"

"Bella, Fred is anxious enough as it is. Jasper's trying to keep him calm without making the rest of us go catatonic, and I've been listening to him consider making a run for it rather than coming back to Forks with us."

I pondered this information for a moment. "If he did decide to run, would you try to stop him?"

"No, I wouldn't, but he would need to understand what he would be facing," Edward replied grimly. "I'm sure Aro wants to see if he would make a good addition to the guard, and he's not going to let Fred get away that easily. Vampires with aggressive powers like Fred's are hard to come by. Aro values them above all the rest. As much as he would like to add Alice and me to his ranks, he would likely trade both of us for someone who could make himself invisible and debilitate his enemies."

"Well, if he does want to run, I guess there's nothing we can do about it, but I did hear you telling him about Demetri, so at least he knows some of what he would be up against."

"There's a lot we can teach him, if he's willing to listen and learn. Sometimes I wonder if he understands the gravity of the situation," Edward mused, "I hope he doesn't have to learn it the hard way."

"You want to know what else I've been thinking?" I asked with a sly smile.

"I always want to know what you're thinking."

"I've been thinking it's been many hours since I've been kissed."

Edward grinned. "I think I can help." With that, he leaned in and planted a very chaste kiss on my cheek.

"Edward! You know that's not what I meant! I could get that kind of kiss from my mom. Is that how you want me to think of you?" I teased.

Edward's gaze turned serious as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in for a deep, sensual, heart-stopping kiss that quite literally took my breath away.

"Is that what you meant?" he asked breathlessly.

"I'm not sure…" I answered, tapping my chin with my finger. He laughed and pulled me in again, this time literally sweeping me off my feet as his lips danced upon mine.

The ship's horn blew three times and a recorded voice came over the loudspeakers telling passengers to return to their cars. I heard the words, but they didn't register in my head. Nothing registered except my hands grasping Edward's hair, his fingers gently caressing my back, and our mouths perfectly moving together.

Edward broke the kiss with, looking around with a nervous laugh. "Apparently we're making a scene. Plus Alice is furiously thinking about coming up here and dragging us both back to the car."

I blushed 14 shades before burying my face in Edward's chest. I could feel rather than hear his muffled chuckling.

We were the last ones down to the parking deck, but I really couldn't care less. The ship hadn't even finished docking yet, so I wasn't sure why everyone was rushing around anyway.

Fred and Jasper were playing a rousing round of "Guess that Emotion," a game they apparently made up to pass the time. Alice was busily trying to distract Jasper and the three of them were laughing uproariously. "It's about time you lovebirds made it back," Alice laughed.

"That was definitely annoyance, and perhaps some lust?" Jasper joked, giving my shoulder a slight push. I smiled because he was right. I wasn't annoyed by them, but rather the poor timing of our arrival in Port Angeles. I would have liked to find a secluded place where Edward and I could have continued our impromptu make-out session. Those two long, lovely kisses had reduced my stress level by about half, and I was certainly ready for more.

We continued to play the silly game until we were about 15 miles outside of Forks, when Jasper announced "Seriousness, and game over."

Edward rolled his eyes at his brother, but acknowledged that he was right. Edward eyed Fred through the rearview mirror. "I don't imagine I need to tell you there is absolutely no feeding on humans allowed here in this entire area."

"But you're going to tell me anyway, right?" Fred said with a smile.

Edward wasn't as amused.

"OK, OK, yeah, I kinda figured that out all by myself," Fred answered. "I'm really not looking forward to venison. Even when I was human, I thought that stuff was gamey. I get that it's a small town, but there's got to be somebody that wouldn't be missed. Don't you people have a hermit or something?"

"We do. His name is Ivan, and even though he only comes into town every couple of weeks, people would start looking for him if he went missing," Jasper answered.

"Even my dad watches out for Ivan," I added. "He's had a rough life, but he's happy in his little shack outside of Forks. You wouldn't eat poor Ivan, would you?" The thought of it made my eyes well up with tears.

"No, Bella… don't cry. I'm not going to eat Ivan, OK?" Fred reached over to comfort me, or I assumed that's what he was going to do before he just about got his arm snapped off by three protective vampires.

"Do not touch Bella," Edward warned through a growl. "I know you weren't planning to harm her, but you don't know your own strength yet, and if you even so much as bruised her delicate skin, let's just say I wouldn't take it kindly."

"Edward!" I admonished him, "Fred was just trying to be nice. I'm glad you want to protect me, but sometimes it's just a little too much!"

Before Edward could answer, Fred spoke up. "No, Bella. Edward's right. I have good control for a newborn, really good control, but even I realize I have nowhere near enough to be fully trusted around a human. It was all I could do not to jump out of the car and latch onto one of the ferry passengers, drain them, weight the body and toss the corpse overboard."

"I see you've given that some thought," I responded in horror. I'm sure my eyes were as wide as saucers.

"The thing is," Fred continued, "I honestly don't want to hurt you, but bloodlust is a powerful thing."

"Yes, it is…" Jasper added softly, looking at me with sorrowful eyes.

"That was a long time ago, and all's forgiven," I said as earnestly as I could. Alice kissed his shoulder and he nuzzled her spiky hair.

In the meantime, Fred was putting two and two together. "Wait… You tried to bite Bella?" he whispered in disbelief.

"It was an accident. I got a paper cut." I was quick to defend Jasper, knowing this was the worst possible subject we could be talking about.

"The answer is 'yes, I did try to bite her'… in a moment of weakness," Jasper admitted. "If Edward hadn't stopped me…"

"But he did, and I'm still human, so…" I was going to add something about no harm, no foul, but there was harm. It was the event Edward used as his reason to leave me. It had killed me in every way but physically. For a moment, that all-too-familiar burning emptiness in my chest took hold of me, its contemptuous voice taunting, 'You're letting yourself get too attached. Didn't you learn anything? He left you once, and he could do it again. Then what will you do?'

I hated that particular voice. It not only exposed my greatest fear, but it mocked me for trying to overcome it.

Emerging from my thoughts, I locked eyes with Jasper. He was grief-stricken all over again, and I realized he had felt my brief, but powerful recollection of those dark times. If he could have been in tears, he would. I had no way to comfort him in that moment. I smiled weakly and nodded in understanding. We had never addressed 'The Birthday Incident' as it was called when someone had to refer to it, and I figured we should probably do that at some point.

I hadn't even noticed that we were through Forks and to the Cullen's driveway until the car left the pavement. As we pulled up, Fred let out a whistle. "Nice digs you got here."

"We like it," Alice commented as she opened the car door. She started to open my door, but Edward was there in a flash and gave her a look that said 'Back off, little sister. That's my job.' I had to chuckle. They'd been together for at least 50 years and they still argued like teenagers.

We almost made it up the front steps before Carlisle opened the door to welcome us. The four of his "kids" got a hug, and then he extended his hand to Fred. Much to everyone's surprise, Fred pulled Carlisle into a hug. "Thank you, sir, for trying to save Bree. I know you took a risk for her, going up against the dark cloaks, and thank you for trying to help me now, too."

Looking self-conscious, Carlisle stepped back and ran his hand through his hair. "Thank you for saying so, Fred, but I didn't do anything that others wouldn't have done."

Fred scoffed. "Have you MET other vampires? I've never met one that would put themselves on the line to save anybody else. Until I met your family…"

"OK, so how long is the group hug going to last?" Emmett bellowed from the living room.

Carlisle rolled his eyes. "Come in, Fred, and meet the rest of the Cullen family."