Hey all! Sorry I've been a little slowww lately. It's my birthday and we've been out & about this week/weekend... plus playoffs for the team I coach are right around the corner and we've had a few night games, so been super busy.. forgive me if i'm not as regular with the updates over the next week or two.. but i will do it as much as possible :) hope you're all enjoying this story!

Chapter 34

Jasper, Alice, Emmett and Michael left the house first to get a head start, along with the Denalis. Esme and Carlisle needed a few minutes to speak with Alexandra, so Edward and Bella decided to wait with them.

She had already changed into attire that would provide the most mobility, though it didn't matter much. She threw her hair back in a ponytail and was ready to head out the door.

Carlisle could see that her emotions were right at the surface and didn't want her to continue thinking irrationally on their journey.

"Dad..." she said, "Are we ready to go?"

"In a minute," he said, "You can go with us. I won't stop you, but come upstairs with me for a second."

Alexandra sighed but obliged and took the stairs by two at a rapid pace.

Carlisle followed and found his daughter standing by one of the large, open windows upstairs. "Can you give your dad five minutes?" he asked soft and sympathetically.

She felt a little bad for giving him the brunt of her sadness and embarrassment so she took a few steps in his direction.

Carlisle felt his chest tighten at the sight of her posture and expression, knowing there was really nothing he could to help the pain she was experiencing go away. "Alexandra, I'm very sorry for the pain Peter has caused you. It's not your fault."

"It's fine," she told him, looking upward toward the ceiling.

"No, it's not," he continued, "No one deserves something like that. You're a great person. You're smart. You're-"

"He told me he was worried when I didn't call him back last night," she said, letting her tears flow. A sob vibrated through her throat, "Why would he say that? That was right before Lucy went missing."

Carlisle walked over and hugged his daughter. She wrapped her arms around him and cried into the front of his jacket. "The world is filled with good and bad people Alex," he said, "There are a lot of good people. They aren't all like Peter."

"I thought he cared," she cried, "I don't understand it. How can someone just lie like that?"

"I don't know," he told her.

"And Lucy. What is going to happen to her? It will be my fault if she gets hurt."

"It's not your fault," Carlisle said. He leaned back and looked at her in the eyes, "Alexandra it is not your fault. Peter is the one who made these choices. Now, we have to go find him. You can stay if you'd like, it's what I'd prefer, or you can come with me and Mom and everyone else. But I need you to be strong for me if you come. Don't let your emotions lead you into a dangerous situation."

She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "I won't. I'm sorry Dad."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Carlisle told her reassuringly. He scooted to the bathroom and got her a handful of tissues. She quickly dried her eyes, got composed and gave him a hug. "Ready to go?"

Alexandra nodded, "Yeah."

The two of them made their way back downstairs and bid their farewells to Rosalie, Carmen, William and Maddy before joining the rest of their family members outside.

"We ready?" Edward asked.

Carlisle and Alexandra both nodded.

Esme looked at him as their daughter walked by toward Bella. He nodded and whispered, "She's okay," before grabbing her by the hand and leading them all into the woods.

Rosalie watched on as they left, feeling worried, yet confident that they'd be able to handle Olivia and Peter.

"I'm sorry Rosalie," Carmen said, joining her on the front step, "I can't believe we let Peter fool us this way."

She placed a hand on her shoulder, "It's Olivia's fault. Peter's just another one of her puppets. They'll get what they deserve."

"I can't believe you'd even remotely think that!" Maddy's voice screamed from inside.

Rosalie and Carmen looked at each other and raced into the house to find William and Maddy arguing. He had his hands out to the side, defending himself and she stood firmly in front of him with her hands on her hips and a hurt, angry expression on her face.

"What is going on?" Rosalie asked.

"Nothing," William said.

"He's questioning whether I knew about Peter!" Madison bellowed, not meaning to direct it toward Rosalie.

His mother looked at him with a disheartened look, "William..."

"That's not what I said," he told her defensively.

"It's what you implied," Madison fought back, shaking her head, "I cannot believe you William."

"It's not what I said," he shouted again, "I just meant he lived with you for so long, wasn't there something weird you could have picked up on?"

"No!" The one of her voice could have shattered glass.

"Okay. Fine. It's settled then," William said, rolling his eyes.

"William," Rosalie said again to her son, "How could you think Madison had anything to do with this?"

"I don't," he said loudly, "Wow, no one is listening."

Frustrated tears formed in Madison's eyes, "Say it, Will. Go ahead, blame us for what he did."

"I'm not blaming anybody. You're taking it way out of context."

"Am I?"

"Yes!"

"Stop it," Rosalie demanded calmly. She forced herself in between the little space that separated the two of them and stared at William with a hard expression, "Now is not the time to start pointing fingers or turning our backs on the people we love the most."

"I'm not-"

"Do not interrupt me William," she instructed, putting up a finger toward his face, "What you're doing is not helping the situtation. It won't change things, and it's making Madison feel bad."

"Well, that wasn't my intention," he crossed his arms and stared at his mother, rearranging his eyes momentarily to meet Maddy's before angling them back to Rosalie.

"Apologize," she said, "Because whatever you meant, you worded it in a way that hurt Madison's feelings."

He sighed and gave her a half hearted apology, still angry and ready to defend his choice of words.

"Yeah, that sounded like you really meant it," Madison said, shaking her head. A tearful glaze still coated her eyes.

"What do you want me to do Maddy? Kiss your feet?"

She squinted her eyes, letting a few stray tears creep out of the corners before she whizzed out of the house.

William made a face and looked at Carmen and Rosalie.

"You need to rearrange your attitude," Rosalie told him, "Our families are in crisis and you're not helping."

They stared in a stalemate for a few seconds before Rosalie eyed Carmen the two of them left the room.