Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyers owns Twilight. I do not. I do however, own my 'gang'.

A/N: Also thanks to my awesome Beta, Blueboarderchick.

Thank you to my reviewers.

Chapter 48

Silence descended between us as I scrambled for some sort of explanation. I carefully kept my expression void of any emotion and calmly asked, "What are you talking about?"

Liz placed her hands on her hips and stared me down. "Don't play dumb with me, Izzy. I know what I heard."

Damn, she knows. I had to find some way to smooth this out. Liz would be pissed at me for lying to her. "Look, Liz. I didn't plan it… it just sort of happened," I said, hoping against hope, to soften that glare of hers.

Noting my anxious expression, Liz rolled her eyes. "Relax, Izzy. I'm not mad at you. In fact, I wish I was there in person to see it."

Ew! Okay, I knew Liz was kinky but that was just gross. She wanted to watch me make out with her brother? We couldn't have been talking about the same thing. Just to be certain that we were on the same topic, I asked, "What are you talking about?"

Liz rolled her eyes once again, letting out an exasperated sigh. "I'm talking about the conversation you had with my dad about Taylor." Oh that. A wave of relief washed over me until she prodded. "What are you talking about? And where were you anyway?" Liz was in full interrogator mode as she pinned me with her hawk-like stare.

"I was exploring the house and- Ow, my ankle!" Thinking fast, I began to walk toward the bed, only to crumble in a false display of agony. As predicted, a concerned Liz rushed forward to offer me assistance.

Guilt gnawed at my stomach as I watched Liz fuss over me, but I need to find some way to distract her from her line of questioning. If Liz knew about Taylor and me, our label-free relationship would gain a label pretty quickly, and I wasn't ready for everything that came along with a declared relationship. I wasn't ready to answer the where is our relationship going question yet.

Subsequent to Liz helping me toward the bed, she sank down next to me. I decided it would be best to take charge by changing the conversation. "So you were saying something about your dad?"

"Oh, right. I heard your conversation with dad… well, part of it anyway."

"Wait a minute, were you snooping?"

"Maybe a little." Liz hung her head in mock chagrin, but I thought I spied a tiny smile on her lips.

"Liz." With an identical smile, I scolded Liz with equally false harshness in my voice.

Her head snapped up with a wide smile. "Oh, come on! I couldn't wait to find out what dad wanted to talk to you about… so I thought I'd have myself a little listen. I just listened for a few seconds anyway, so I didn't get to hear it all. Well?" She asked expectantly.

"Well what?" I stared at her blankly, unsure of what she talking about.

"What do you think of dad?"

"You're right. He's a nice man once you get passed the ingrown snobbishness."

I felt like I understood him a bit more. He did have issues with control, but what parent didn't? There was nothing Walter wouldn't do to protect his children as evidenced by his willingness to use blackmail against Taylor's family.

When Catalina left him, he withdrew from the world, choosing to bury away his pain in his work. By doing so, his children practically raised themselves. I understood the pain of loss and feeling like you had nothing left. In that respect, Walter wasn't much different from me.

"Well, I know that he likes you." At my raised eyebrows, Liz added, "He might not like what you said to him but at the very least, I think he respects you for having the guts to say it. Do you think it'll make a difference?"

I shrugged helplessly in reply. "I don't know. You tell me. You know your dad better than I do. Do you think he'll be okay with Taylor wanting to be an ordinary teacher?" Walter seemed set on his son maintaining a lavish lifestyle. Maybe he would be willing to compromise now that he knew his son wasn't about to sell his soul for fame. Note my sarcasm.

"Maybe. We'll just have to wait and see." Liz gnawed on her bottom lip.

"We won't have to wait long. Taylor's probably talking to him right now," I revealed then mentally kicked myself for running off at the mouth again.

A frown creased Liz's brow as she stared at me. "How do you know Taylor's talking to dad?"

"I um… I ran into Taylor in the hall and he told me his dad asked to see him." I hoped that she wouldn't notice the blatant lie. God how I hated lying. For some reason it always made me feel dirty.

Liz's expression then turned sneaky. "So you slept in my brother's room last night, huh?"

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. "Jeez, nothing happened, Liz. Let it go."

"All right, all right." She breathed a sigh that was tinged with disappointment before cautiously asking, "So you slept all right?"

That was kind of out of the blue. "Yeah, I guess," I answered unsurely.

Liz searched my face intently. "So nothing odd happened, right?"

Odd? Where the hell was she going with this? "What do you mean by odd?"

Our positions were now reversed, with me being the suspicious one and Liz being the nervous one, fidgeting under my stare.

"I didn't mean anything really. Just asking if you slept okay." Her eyes darted around nervously, looking at everything else in the room but me. I suspected she was hiding something and decided to get some confirmation.

"I slept fine except for the… never mind." I shook my head dismissively and waited to see if she would take the bait. She did.

Her eyes swung back toward my face, searching, silently asking, what do you know? "Except for what?"

"It's silly really but there were times when I was sleeping, I felt a sort of floating sensation. Weird dream, right?" I countered and added a phony laugh of nervousness.

"Right." Liz was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

"I mean, there's nothing that could make a person float like that. That's just crazy," I commented, looking at her out of the corner of my eye.

"Yeah crazy," Liz laughed weakly, and I knew I had my confirmation. Now I was definitely intrigued. What happened last night wasn't a dream. I really did float and I was beginning to believe that Taylor's ability might have been the cause of it. Whatever it was.

After an uncomfortable pause, Liz decided to change the topic. "We're going to a masquerade ball tomorrow night."

"What? What ball?" My head snapped up, body stiffening in alarm. This was typical Liz fashion to spring something like this on me before I had the chance to back out.

"Every year Ryan's mother throws a big New Year's Eve ball at the Crown Plaza. It's the social event of the season." Liz said the last part in a snooty tone of voice. I got the feeling she was imitating Ryan's mother.

Already my mind was trying to come up with a way to get out of it. I really didn't feel like going to a fancy ball. I was hoping to stay home and maybe hang out by the fireplace in Taylor's room. "But I can't go."

"Why not?" Liz raised an eyebrow in question.

"B-because I don't have anything to wear." There, a legitimate reason. Secretly, I was pleased with my quick thinking. Something like a masquerade ball would require days, maybe even weeks of shopping in advance for suitable gowns and masks. There was no way we'd be prepared by tomorrow night.

"Oh, don't worry. Our gowns arrived the day before yesterday. So you don't have to worry about a thing," Liz smirked evilly, clearly anticipating my excuse.

I recalled Walter talking about a package that had been dropped off at the house and bit back a groan. He was talking about the dresses. In my mind, I heard a jail door slam shut and knew I was backed into a corner. But then I remembered my arm and began grasping at straws once more. "What about my arm? I'll feel uncomfortable with my bandages showing."

Liz smiled cheekily and I knew I was beat. "Oh, that's not an issue either. Alice, being the all knowing psychic that she is, was smart enough to send matching gloves."

"Alice, sent the dresses?" Damn, a freaking trap! This had Alice's name written all over it. I should have known. "Wait a minute… you have Alice's number?" When did this happen?

"Of course I do, silly." At my crestfallen look, Liz pleaded, "Aw, come on, Izzy. You just have to come. Ryan and Taylor are so boring at these things, but with you there, I know I'll have fun. Please."

Liz wrapped an arm around my shoulder, blinking her large puppy eyes at me. I rolled my eyes, just barely concealing a smile. "Fine, I'll go." As if I had much of a choice to begin with.

"Thank you, thank you." She smiled brightly, practically burst with excitement as she bounced on the bed. Since our arrival in Boston, I noticed that Liz appeared a bit more girly than usual. But I surmised that it was because she now had another girl to do all the things she had to do alone. Great, just frigging great.

I'll get you for this, Alice Cullen.

In the midst of plotting, my cell phone rang and Liz leaned away as I answered it. "Hello."

A surly voice accosted me from the other end. "I should kick your ass for this."

I would be able to identify that grouchy voice anywhere. "Well, Season's Greetings to you too, Leah."

Liz burst into a fit of giggles at the mention of Leah's name and I covered my mouth, trying to contain my own.

"I cannot believe you told Zach where I live. He just showed up on my doorstep with that damn snake of his… Hoes before bros, Bella," Leah grumbled and I gave up trying to hold back my laughter.

"You are so lucky your ass is in Boston right now because I have a nice spot in the forest to bury your body." I rolled my eyes in amusement and Liz spread herself out on my bed, taking up almost all the space. Bed hog.

Leah was threatening me and acting like I sent a masked murderer to her house, which reminded me. I felt a bit silly for asking but I did it anyway. "Leah, Zach and Susie Q are still alive, right?"

"Of course not. I would never kill Suzie Q. The snake I like, but the man whore is a whole other story."

"Where is the man whore, by the way?"

"He's um… still sleeping." She paused a second before adding, "He had a very long night."

I heard the lecherous grin in her voice and wrinkled my nose. "I so did not need that image in my head. So I take it things are going well?"

"I'll give you the breakdown. Seth's scarred for life, your dad invited Zach over for dinner tonight and the pack wants me to bring him to Sam and Emily's New Years Eve party tomorrow night. They all want to meet him."

"Well, that doesn't sound so bad." I tried to sound hopeful but ended up failing miserably. It sounded like things were going to get messy, especially if Sam was still acting like a jealous jerk. Why did Charlie invite Zach over for dinner? Too bad I couldn't be there to watch the carnage.

"The hell it doesn't. I swear, Bella, if Zach's visit turns into a nightmare, I'm coming after you. I will find your ass… in Boston… and…" Her angry rant tapered off with her voice becoming increasingly distracted.

"Leah? Are you okay?" What's going on?

There was a brief pause before I heard someone groan, "Oh God." That sounds a lot like Zach.

They couldn't be… "Leah, are you and Zach having sex?"

Leah's answering moan had me blushing and cringing all at the same time. "Oh- Ew. Goodbye." I quickly hung up, tossing the phone away from me in disgust.

Liz rolled around on the bed, cackling like a mad lady. "Sounds like Zach was putting a little something extra in Leah's stocking, huh?"

I wanted to talk more about the ball. "So, when will I get to see my dress?"

"Alice said you have to wait until tomorrow night." At my pout, Liz smiled, "Don't worry, she said you'll love it."

Oh great.

The conversation with Walter must have gone okay because the next time I saw Taylor, he pulled me into one of their unoccupied bedrooms and kissed me until I felt weak in the knees. Walter wasn't exactly over the moon about Taylor wanting to teach, but to Walter, it was a hell of a lot better than being a musician.

It was a few minutes before the dinner party was due to start and we were all gathered in the lounge waiting for the arrival of Ryan's parents. To Walter's credit, he appeared to be really making a real effort to find out more about Taylor plans for after college. Taylor was still a little wary, where his father's new attitude was concerned. Even though this was a step in the right direction, they still had a lot of other issues to address, mainly dealing with the bad blood between Walter and Taylor's Spanish family. It was a struggle to resist the constant urge to roll my eyes each time Liz gave me one of her silly grins. She attributed the change in Walter to our earlier conversation.

Taylor made a face when Walter turned his eagle eyes on me and started interrogating me about my family and my after-college plans. Finally, I was able to see where Liz obtained her cross-examining skills. I was immensely relieved when we heard voices coming from the direction of the foyer. Then a semi-casually dressed man of average height and a petite brunette entered the lounge.

After I was introduced to the couple, Royce, Ryan's dad, extended his hand. "So, you must be, Izzy. I've heard a lot about you." Royce smiled and I saw where Ryan's dimpled grin came from. I flicked a glance at my friends, trying to figure out which of them had been talking about me and what had been said.

My smile stiffened somewhat when I was introduced to Monica, Ryan's mother. Although Monica and Ryan shared the same brown eyes, hers lacked the warmth and kindness of her son's. She was garbed in a black, strapless dress with an off the shoulder scarf accent. She seemed a bit overdressed for a casual dinner with friends.

After a few moments of conversation, Ryan tried to sneak away stealthily but Monica spoke up making him jump in alarm. "Where are you going, Ryan?"

He spun around, looking guilty. "Nowhere, Mother."

"If you're going nowhere -"

"- You're guaranteed to get there." Ryan finished with a bitter smile that didn't belong on his face. "I know, you said that to me a lot when I was growing up."

"That's because you always seemed to be going nowhere." She sidled a glance in Liz's direction and added, "And it looks like you're still headed there."

Ryan's face darkened in anger at Liz's flinch and I felt my hackles raise at the veiled insult.

Monica turned to Susan, scrutinizing her outfit, her brown eyes filling with disdain. "Susan, you're looking very… ethnic this evening."

Susan, refusing to let Monica's statement get her, flatly replied, "And you're looking the same as always, overdressed and constipated."

I choked back a comical snort and earned myself an evil eye courtesy of Monica. As I glanced away, my eyes landed on Taylor and I observed the way his mouth twitched in amused as if he was trying hold back a laugh of his own. At least he thought it was funny.

Oh boy. I saw Walter and Royce trade anxiety-filled glances. Clearly their women did not like each other and were on the verge of an all out argument (something told me that this wouldn't be their first). And if they wanted to prevent it from happening, then one of them would have to intervene. Something neither man was willing to do.

"Well, we can't all dress like we're spending the evening at a 7-Eleven," Monica shot back with a dainty wrinkle of her nose.

"You're telling me that I'm not properly dressed?" Susan gestured at Monica's outfit with her hand. "I think you forgot that you're having dinner with your friend at his home and not with the Queen of England." I wondered why Susan emphasized on the friend part.

Monica's red lips tightened into a thin line as she glared daggers at Susan, who stared back blankly, appearing unaffected by her stare. The silence in the room was deafening with everyone waiting to see what would happen next.

Thankfully, Robert intervened before the bloodshed occurred. "Dinner is served."

There were a lot of relieved faces as everyone rose to follow Robert into the dining room. Susan and Walter took their places at opposite ends of the table, I sat between Liz and Taylor, and a morose Ryan claimed the chair between his parents. Everyone ate their meals in an uncomfortable silence that was occasionally interrupted by small talk.

While listening to Monica prattle on and on about her pet poodles and the latest happenings down at the country club, I couldn't help but wonder what she did all day. Surely that couldn't be all there was to Monica Sinclair. Maybe it was just me but Monica came off as a frivolous woman. In addition to that, her shrill, irritating voice was really beginning to grate on my nerves. Then there was the odd way she'd sometimes look at Walter, with a sort of softness. It was odd because she didn't look at Royce the same way.

Monica's increasingly annoying voice broke through my musings. "Do you have a new suit for the ball tomorrow night, Ryan?" She continued before he could answer. "Please, do not show up looking like a vagabond."

"I wouldn't dream of doing anything to embarrass you, Mother," Ryan muttered sarcastically under his breath. But once more, Monica didn't hear his retort, as she was too busy chatting Walter up.

Royce appeared thoughtful as he turned to Ryan, his face taking on a measured look. "Are you still serious about the coaching thing?"

"Yes, I am." Ryan frowned, clearly offended by the belittling way his father referred to his career choice.

Royce swirled his wine around in his glass before asking, "And what if I said that you'd be cut off if you decided go through with this plan of yours?" A tense silence descended on the room as everyone waited for Ryan's reply.

"I would tell you to go ahead and do it. I'm not changing my mind," Ryan replied tersely.

Royce nodded, almost as if he was confirming something to himself. "I just needed to see how serious you were about this. Now that I've seen how determined you are, well then… You have my support." Royce smiled at his son and I watched Ryan's face light up like a light bulb. Hell, even Liz was grinning.

"Your support really means a lot, Dad."

"Experience is necessary if you're really serious about this." Royce tone took on a lecture-like quality.

"I know, Dad. When we get back to Hanover, I plan to volunteer with the local youth league."

"The youth league, huh? I might know a guy there. I'll make a call."

"Dad-" Ryan tried to intervene only to be cut off.

"Don't worry about a thing, Ryan. I'll take care of it." Royce insisted and Ryan backed down with a sigh, deciding to choose his battles. He frowned as Royce tipped his head back and emptied his glass. It was his fourth glass for the night while everyone else was still on their first.

"You're in support of this?" Monica asked Royce incredulously.

"I want our son to be happy, Monica. Do you even remember what that feels like, being happy?" Royce muttered bitterly, taking the bottle out of Robert's hand when he came to refill his empty wine glass. Ryan flinched when, after refreshing his glass, Royce slammed the bottle down on the table with a loud thud. Robert's lips firmed slightly, revealing the only sign of his disapproval, as he stepped away from the table.

"I suppose, I have you to thank for this." Contempt laced each word as Monica turned her glower on Liz, and I watched as my friend squirmed in the chair next to me.

I pressed my lips together, trying to keep my sarcastic reply from spilling out of my mouth. I couldn't believe that Liz was just sitting here and letting Monica walk all over her. The Liz I knew would have cussed her out by now. What ever happened to strong, outspoken woman that I'd come to love as a sister?

"Mother, you need to stop blaming Liz. What I want to do with my life is my choice and no one else's," Ryan tried to defend his girlfriend.

"God, I cannot accept this. You're supposed to want to own football teams not coach them. What will I tell everyone down at the country club?" Monica asked no one in particular.

"That your son has a job," Susan muttered dryly but Monica ignored her retort.

"You must be relieved that you still at least have Taylor to make you proud, Walter. I bet he can't wait to join you at the company."

"Actually, Monica, Taylor plans to going into teaching when he finishes college. Isn't that right, Taylor?" Walter looked to Taylor for unneeded confirmation and Taylor gave a brisk nod in agreement.

"God, why on earth would he want to be one of those underpaid souls?" Monica scoffed, more than a tad put out that by Walter's easy acceptance of Taylor's career choice.

"I know the thought would shock you, Monica. But some people don't choose their careers because of what it pays." Susan supplied then traded a supportive smile with Walter.

Every time Walter and Susan exchanged loving glances, a jealous look would flitter across Monica's face, her arched brows snapping into a frown.

Jealous? Why would Monica be jealous of Susan and Walter?

It was at that moment I realized, with a sick feeling in my stomach, that Monica was in love with Walter. That was why she hated Liz (the daughter of her rival) so much. Of course, it didn't help that Liz looked so much like Catalina. Jeez, this was all so weird. I knew that Walter, Royce and Monica all grew up together, but Monica and Walter had never been romantically in love. He'd never felt that way about her. Monica was still in love with Walter and probably had been for many years.

Even weirder was the fact that both men seemed to know this and was steadfastly choosing to ignore it. Susan noticed it though, and she didn't like it one bit if her cold glare was anything to go by.

I supposed the saying was true. You really couldn't help the one you fell in love with. Poor Royce. I couldn't imagine how he must have felt, knowing that his wife was in love with his best friend. That was probably why he was steadily working his way through Walter's bottle of Merlot. This was so messed up. Zach was right, rich people were so weird.

"Oh for God's sake, Monica. Liz and Ryan have been together a long time now. So long, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised to hear them announcing their engagement within the next year or so," Royce spoke up, allowing some of his anger to show in his voice.

Monica was livid at the thought and snapped, "Over my dead body."

Anger emanated off of Taylor's rigid body in invisible waves as he fought to keep his anger in check. The hand on his lap tightened until the knuckles cracked softly. As a show of support, I wanted to place my hand in his. Maybe help calm him a bit. But a part of me suspected that he would only end up squeezing the hell out of my hand, and, quite frankly, the wolf had already done enough damage. Taylor would've only ended up crippling me.

Susan rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation, "Why do you have to be such a drama queen, Monica? Ryan can do much worse than Liz."

"I suppose it's not her fault that she lacks the proper grace and breeding," Monica's lips curled into a vicious smile, and I felt Taylor stiffen next to me. She went too far, now she was insulting their mother.

It was at this point that Walter tried to intervene. He'd only managed to say Monica's name before Susan interrupted. "Proper breeding? You're one to talk," Susan laughed.

"Excuse me?" Monica queried haughtily with a lift of her eyebrow.

"You heard me. You're just going to sit there and insinuate that Liz isn't from proper breeding when everyone knows that your parents were cousins."

Monica inhaled sharply, her face turned deathly pale, then the room was filled with silence again. Looking around the room at everyone's reactions showed that Monica's parentage wasn't exactly news but no one was expecting Susan to go there. These were all things that they all knew but remained unsaid, much like Monica's feelings for Walter. Royce took a large gulp out of his glass of wine and Walter leaned away from the table, running a hand through his graying hair.

Ryan tried not to look at me but when he finally did, his brown eyes were so full of shame that I felt my own heart clench in sympathy. The small smile on Susan's face faded and was replaced with guilt upon witnessing Ryan's discomfort. In trying to stick up for Liz, Susan had only succeeded in making things worse. This was why no one was willing to put Monica in her place, because Ryan would get hurt in the process.

With a small shrug of my shoulders, I offered Ryan a smile that I hoped conveyed that I didn't think any less of him. It wasn't Ryan's fault that his grandparents were related, hell, it wasn't even Monica's. Besides, I wasn't in any place to judge anybody. A few years ago, I was head over heels in love with a dead man. Of course, that wasn't what I saw when I looked at Edward. Though in reality, he was dead and if I wanted to be with him forever, then I would've had to die too.

Monica's face paled then twisted in fury, and I thought that she was about to lunge across the table and attack Susan. But instead, she turned her fury on Walter. "I must say, Walter, you really are attracted to trash. First, you marry that little foreign slut-"

"Don't even think about finishing that sentence!" Walter cut her off harshly with an intimidating scowl on his face. He might have been willing to let Monica get away with insulting his daughter, but he sure as hell wasn't about to stand by and let her disrespect the memory of his dead wife.

Monica's pretty face twisted into lines of bitterness before she spat, "The woman was beneath me and so is her daughter."

Suddenly, the glass in Taylor's hand shattered, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. Blood oozed out of the wound, dripping onto the beige and cotton tablecloth. Walter shot Ryan a panicked look and I read the message in his eyes. Get him out of here, now! Within seconds Ryan was already on his feet, making his way around the table.

"Come on, man. Let's go get that hand fixed," Ryan anxiously urged Taylor to leave the room. Before allowing Ryan to lead him away, Taylor threw a frightening glare in Monica's direction and I shuddered in fear. I hoped he would never look at me that way.

"Walter, one of these days that boy is going to kill someone with that temper of his," Monica remarked unkindly.

Oh hell no! Next to me, I saw Liz ball her fists and sat back in anticipation for the volcano that was sure to erupt, otherwise known as Liz's temper. Liz would never let Monica get away with saying that about her brother. Ryan wasn't here, so Liz had free reign to go off on Monica. God knows she'd been begging for it all night.

Imagine my surprise when the explosion never came. Instead Liz rose from the table, mumbling something about going to check on Taylor. I couldn't believe it. She just crawled away with her tail between her legs.

What the hell!

I grabbed my cane and went after her, not care one bit that I was being rude by leaving in the middle of dinner. I caught up with her in the foyer.

"Where are you going, Liz?"

"I'm going to see if Taylor's all right." Liz turned around but kept her eyes on the ground.

"What are you doing? Ryan's with Taylor now, this is the perfect opportunity to tell that witch off."

"I… I can't." Her voice shook with an unidentifiable emotion.

"Why the hell not?" I cross-examined hotly.

"I just…" Liz raised her head to look at me, and what I saw knocked the wind out of my sails. Fear. She was afraid of Monica.

In a perfect world, Liz would have been able to tell Monica where to go and how to get there. But we didn't live in a perfect world and Liz didn't have the courage to stand up to the woman who had done nothing but torment her, her entire life. Liz was much better at standing up for others than she was at standing up for herself. It somehow seemed criminal to hold my tongue and let Monica get away with her maliciousness.

It was with this thought that I turned on my good heel and stalked back in the direction of the dining room. I would stand up for my friend because I knew without a doubt that she would do the same for me.

I could hear Liz's nervous voice behind me. "Izzy, what are you doing?"

I was so over Boston. It had only been twenty-four hours and already I was ready to go back home. The people here were just too messed up for me to deal with.

When I re-entered the dining room, it appeared that I'd walked in on an argument between Walter and Monica. But I was too pissed off to care. Before the night was through, I would say my piece.

Monica seemed surprised as I laid into her. "You should be ashamed of yourself for picking on Liz. She is a good person and she showed a lot of class tonight by not stooping to your level. And your son, I feel bad for him having to grow up with someone like you as his mother. He is also a good person and I know that that's in spite of you and not because of you."

Monica's mouth opened in outrage then closed, pressing into a thin line. She turned to Royce. "Are you just going to sit there and allow this street urchin to speak to me like that?"

Royce looked from Monica to me then turned to Susan. "Please pass the salt." Susan did so with a smirk on her face.

I continued, "I won't go into the real reason you despise Liz so much out of respect for your husband. But keep it up, keep acting like a bitter harpy and you'll become one of those pathetic women that dies alone and gets eaten by her dogs."

"How dare you speak to me this way?"

"I dare because I'm not your friend and I'm not your son. I don't have to sugarcoat the truth; I can shove it right in your face." I whirled around and stormed out of the room.

Behind me, I heard Royce comment to Walter. "You're son's going to have his hands full with that one."

A furious Liz met me in the hallway on my way to the foyer. "What the hell, Izzy? You couldn't stay out of it, could you? What the hell is your problem?"

I understood what Liz was doing. She couldn't yell at Monica, so she was yelling at me.

"I'm afraid, Liz." Seeing Liz's fear that night made me realize my own.

Liz was caught off guard by my admission. "Afraid of what?"

"I'm afraid to go back to Forks," I sighed.

It was the truth. When each college break approached, I would begin to have thoughts about going back to Forks for a visit. But those thoughts were usually pushed aside when I thought about seeing Jacob again, or more importantly, seeing Jacob with Carmen. I just wasn't ready to go back there, not yet.

"Is it because of that guy?" Liz didn't need to say Jacob's name.

"He's a part of it, yes but not all." I wasn't ready to face my past and the person that I used to be. "I'm not ready to go back there, and until I am, you guys are the only real family I have. So I'm not gonna sit by, watch somebody treat you like crap and not say anything about it. Okay?"

Liz blinked back the tears brimming in her eyes and whispered, "Okay."

Liz then led me up the stairs and into the darkness of her bedroom, where we lay side by side on her bed, staring up at the ceiling. I knew she didn't want to talk, so I reached out and took her hand in mine, trying to communicate my support. Her gentle squeeze confirmed that she'd received my message.

Moments later, her door swung open and Taylor and Ryan entered the room. I came up on my elbows when Taylor crawled into the space next to me. "Is your hand okay?"

"It's fine," Taylor supplied with a wave of his bandaged hand.

We laid next to each other in a contented silence that was interrupted when a bad smell permeated the room.

"Oh, ew. What is that smell?" I was the first one to notice it.

"Damn it, Ryan! You're disgusting," Liz cried before covering her nose.

"It was an accident!" Ryan insisted.

Suddenly we all erupted in a fit of laughter and I felt Taylor's hand clasp my own. Leave it to Ryan to give us our one and only laugh of the night.

It seemed like we were all running from our pasts. Taylor was still so angry about the life he thought his father stole from him. Ryan was trying to get away from problems in his parent's marriage. Liz was a brave, outspoken woman but tonight I saw that she hadn't always been this way. Getting away from Monica's constant barrage of insults was what finally allowed Liz to come into her own. And for me, going away to college had been the best thing. It gave me a chance to grow up and learn how to take care of myself. I wasn't sorry that I'd left Forks and all that craziness behind.

I knew that the day would come when I would have to go back. What I didn't know about was the hell that I would have to go through before that day finally came.

A/N: Oh how I have missed you guys. Just newly returned from three wonderful weeks of vacation with an extra long chapter for you guys.

Story Recap: Bella's starting to put the pieces of the puzzle, that is Taylor, together. She had Liz sweating.

I gave you guys a summary of what Leah's chapter will contain.

What do you think about Alice and Liz's masquerade surprise?

The dinner from hell, Ryan's life sucks.

A lot of family secrets came out of the closet.

Bella told Monica where to go.

A/N: I won't stay away so long next time. Review and be teased people!