BPOV

I sat at the kitchen table, tapping my foot nervously as I waited for Charlie to get home. When he had left to go meet Edward, he had still been angry. What would he say when he got home? The phone rang, and I jumped up to get it, taking care not to crash into the counter.

"Hello?"

"Bella." Edward's voice was cold, and my heart sank.

"It didn't go well?"

"Yes and no. Listen, Charlie's on his way back there, so I'll explain everything tonight. For the rest of the day, don't mention me too much, all right? Alice thinks everything will be all right, but Charlie needs to see us taking it easy for a while. Just go along with whatever he wants to do today."

"Okay…"

"I'll be there tonight. Oh, and Alice says to tell you to check your arm." I peeked down at my elbow, and sure enough, I had smeared off most of the makeup, revealing the burn underneath. It was still pink today, but now there were tiny blisters dotting it.

"I'll take care of it. I love you."

"I love you, too. Remember what I said about Charlie." The line went dead and I hurried upstairs to fix my makeup.

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Edward explained everything to me that night, and the next four days were a blur of tension mixed with boredom. Charlie and I fishing. Charlie and I watching sports, movies. Charlie and I playing cards. Charlie and I working in the yard together. I had thought he would ease up, thinking Esme had been hurt, but I didn't ask. I was furious at first, but I couldn't let him see that; I wasn't supposed to know what had happened at the police station. But I couldn't stay mad; and if I was honest with myself, I did enjoy some of my time alone with Charlie. But I lived for the nights, when I would finally see Edward climbing in the window.

Alice was keeping a close eye on things, and each night Edward assured me that Charlie hadn't decided to take any further action, and she saw us together next week, smiling in the daylight as we walked hand in hand through the forest.

Charlie was more than happy to let me go to the movies with Angela on Friday, and when I met her at the theater, I was surprised to find she was not alone. Ben was there, as well as Mike and Jessica. Then there was me, the fifth wheel.

"Sorry, Bella – I forgot to tell you everyone else was coming. Why don't you call Edward?" Angela asked kindly.

"Oh, he's busy tonight," I said too quickly. Four stares and blushes told me what I didn't want to know; the police scanners in Forks were alive and kicking.

"Thought so," Mike said under his breath, earning a kick from Jessica.

We went into the movie, and I looked around a few times, hoping to catch a glimpse of Edward lurking in the shadows, but I tried not to be disappointed. I should have known that he wouldn't risk it. If anyone were to see him, I had no doubt the Chief of Police would hear about it.

Angela seemed like she was distracted by Ben the whole time, but when I slipped out for a soda refill, she followed me out. As we stood in line, she kept opening her mouth and shutting it again, unsure of what to say. Finally I put her out of her misery.

"Go ahead, Angela. Say it."

She looked at me with pity. "I don't want to believe the rumors, but…" her eyes flickered over the exposed areas of my skin, searching for evidence. She didn't find any; Alice had provided me with a new color of makeup that hid everything completely. It was all "healed".

"That's all they are. Rumors. Okay?"

She looked unsure. "I mean, if you ever need to talk about it…"

"Angela! Edward's a gentleman, and you know it. Do you seriously think he would hurt me?"

"No, you're right. Sorry."

"So, you and Ben are looking good together…"

Her face broke into a smile, and she nodded. Edward had told me about his little part in how their romance had begun, but I would never say anything. Angela was probably my best human friend, and I was happy to see her so happy. I loved her, and we had gotten together several times this summer. She had been pretty before, but now the blush of being in love made her beautiful, radiant. Over the last few weeks, she had shyly confided in me as she and Ben had become even closer; they were even planning to apply to the same colleges. I wished that I could tell her everything in return, but I knew that could never happen. I wished I didn't have to pretend that Edward was just another high school boyfriend. I wished I could tell her that everything had taken on a new light since I had met him. And since the day I had learned that he returned my love, the whole world had blossomed into color. Everything was new, and I wondered if it was the same for Angela. I felt a strange mix of pity and envy. She and Ben had so many normal things to look forward to, and I didn't. That future wasn't for me anymore. I didn't want it anymore. I felt a little sorry for Ben and Angela; they would only have one short lifetime together.

I hadn't brought up my request to Edward in a while, but he knew what I wanted. It was the only thing I would ever ask him for, and it was impossible for him to refuse me forever. Once he saw how miserable I would be about growing older beside him, he wouldn't be able to put off the choice any longer; he would change me or leave me. And I had his promise – no, his word- that he would stay as long as it made me happy. I felt a stab of worry when I remembered his qualification. He had said as long as it's what's best for you. It gave him an out, but even he couldn't deny how happy he made me. No matter how much he tortured himself over his identity, his thirst, his past… he couldn't deny that he was the brightest part of my life. Earlier this week, I had truly been afraid that he and his family would have to leave after the handprint incident, and that he would be forced to make a premature decision about his future with me. And I had been even more worried after he evaded my request to take me with him.

But the danger was past. Edward assured me that Charlie was still going to lift the restraining order on Monday, and it seemed that Esme's "accident" had distracted him from his interrogation. After all, in the end Edward had agreed to take the lie detector test, and that was really all that Charlie needed to hear anyway. Edward could be trusted…. just not for the reasons that he thought.

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It was mid-afternoon on Saturday, and Charlie had run in to work to get some paperwork done. I was kneeling on the kitchen floor, picking through the produce drawer in the fridge. I had been pampering Charlie all week with his favorite dinners, and I was sick of cheese and ground beef. He was getting a salad tonight. And he deserves it, I thought coldly as I kicked the drawer shut, my arms full of vegetables.

As I stood up, I heard the front door open. "Done already, Dad?" I called as I piled the salad stuff on the counter. But there was a swish of cold air, and I was in Edward's arms before I knew what was happening. He was looking over my whole body frantically, and his eyes were black.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed. "We only have two days to go. What if one of the neighbors saw you come in?"

"Are you feeling all right?" he demanded. Now he was checking my pulse, feeling my forehead. This was different…

"I'm fine. Are you feeling all right?"

His shoulders relaxed, and his eyes began to fade back to gold. He kissed my forehead, letting his cold lips linger for a moment. Then he whipped out his cell phone , which was already on.

"She's fine. Is it gone?"

He was silent for a second, and then his brow furrowed again as he looked back down at me.

"I'm standing right beside her, Alice. She's fine."

He ended the call after a moment, and leaned against the counter, folding his arms. He was statue-like in his stillness as he continued staring at me.

"What?"

He just stared.

"Okay, you're starting to freak me out, and Charlie's going to be home in like two minutes. Will you please tell me what's wrong?"

"Alice seems to think that you're going to die in less than an hour."

"Excuse me?"

"Charlie too. What were your plans tonight?"

"I'm making a salad. Even I couldn't possibly blow myself up doing that. I wasn't even going to use the oven tonight." I laid the lettuce on the cutting board, and opened the knife drawer. As I pulled out the huge chef's knife, Edward's eyes grew wide and he snatched it from me.

I rolled my eyes. "Edward, I've been cooking for a long time, and I doubt that I'm going to accidentally impale both myself and my father while chopping lettuce." I gently pried the knife out of his fingers. "Now what exactly did Alice see?"

He frowned. "Nothing."

"What do you mean, nothing?"

"She was checking on Charlie's future, and in the next hour, it just vanishes. Nothing. She checked on you, and saw the same thing."

"So, how exactly does that translate into instant death?"

He unfolded his arms and ran his hand through his hair. "There's no future for either of you, after five o'clock. Nothing tonight, nothing tomorrow. You're both gone."

"Well… we aren't planning on doing anything tonight other than dinner and watching baseball. I'll probably read while he watches the game. Does Alice ever have… you know, hallucinations? Wrong visions?"

"Her visions often don't come true, but that's only because someone changes their mind. But this is different. She's never seen someone just vanish before. She's seen people die, but never this."

"So she didn't see me die."

"Well, no… we just assumed that's what it was." He was finally relaxing now, and I turned back to work on the lettuce. "Maybe something's wrong with Alice," he mused as he watched me work. "But everyone else's future was fine-" He cut off, cocking his head to the side, listening. "Charlie's almost home. Promise me you won't do anything dangerous tonight?"

I grinned mischievously. "Well, I was planning on chopping some wood later…" That finally got a hint of a smile out of him.

"I'm not going far. I'll stay in your room unless I hear him coming up," he said as he headed toward the stairs. I shook my head and continued with my salad. Life was never dull when you're dating a vampire.

A minute later, Charlie came in. "Hey," he said as he tossed the mail onto the table. When he saw the pile of vegetables on the counter, he frowned. "Salad, huh?" he asked mournfully.

I opened my mouth with some smart comment, but the phone rang, and Charlie answered it. A minute later, he was grinning. "Just in time. Bella was making a salad for dinner… yeah, I'll bring the beer. Five okay?" After a minute he hung up. "Sorry, Bells, but the salad will have to wait. Billy invited me over for fish fry and then we're going to watch the game."

"Okay, I'll just have some leftovers. Have a good time."

His eyes narrowed. "Oh, no you don't. This is bonding week, remember? You're coming, too. Anyway, you haven't seen Jake in a while." I didn't like the eagerness in his voice when he mentioned Jacob. I just nodded and gathered the vegetables back up. So much for a healthy dinner… but I would get him back tomorrow.

"Since I won't have time later, I'm going to go fold my laundry now," I said, grabbing the laundry basket as I headed up to my room.

"Okay, but I want to leave soon," Charlie yelled up the stairs. "I want you kids to have plenty of hang out time!" Great. Now Charlie wanted to play matchmaker. This week couldn't end soon enough.

When I reached my room, I found Edward sitting on the bed, deep in a whispered conversation on his cell phone. He wrapped up the call and frowned up at me.

"I don't think you should go."

"Why not? We're just going to have dinner at Billy's."

"Bella, we still don't know what Alice's vision means. I'm not letting you out of my sight until after you survive five o'clock."

"So follow us. There's plenty of woods running through the reservation. You could get close enough to listen."

"You know I can't do that."

"Why not? I know the Quileutes don't want you guys to come there, but it's not like they would know you were there."

"It's not possible, Bella. The treaty stands. I can't violate it. Not even to protect you."

"You mean there's an actual treaty?" When Jacob had told me about the history between his people and the Cold Ones, I hadn't been able to separate fact from fiction- even though he had unknowingly been right about the Cullens, the rest of it was pure mythology. It's not like there were actual werewolves back then. I had just assumed the "treaty" was an exaggeration as well.

"Of course- it was drawn in 1936. I thought Jacob Black told you."

"I thought it was just another exaggeration. You know, like the werewolf thing."

Edward's face was suddenly inscrutable. It reminded me of how he had looked the first time we were in Port Angeles, the night when he finally told me the truth. "I didn't realize… I thought you more of the story. My family- Jasper and Alice excluded- had just moved to the Olympic Peninsula at the time, and when the… the elders realized what we were, the treaty was drawn so that we could stay in the area. There's no expiration on a treaty like that."

"But that was almost seventy years ago! None of those same people could still be there to remember you."

"That doesn't matter. The Quileutes have a long memory, as a people. I'm sure you've noticed that Jacob's father knows about us."

I felt a chill rush over me as I remembered. Billy did know. Did any of the others?

"How did they know what you were? Back in 1936, I mean?"

His lips twitched up at the corners. "I'll tell you the story sometime. But can't you get out of the dinner tonight?"

"What am I supposed to say? That I don't want to go because my boyfriend's fortune-telling sister saw my future disappear around dinnertime? And that you can't come protect me, since you're a vampire and that would be violating the treaty, enacted by you and your family seventy years ago?"

"I see your point."

"Look, I'll be careful, okay? We can't possibly get into a car accident, since we'll be in the cruiser. And the reservation is one of the safest places around. And Billy's an old friend – I used to play at his house in the summers, when I was little. Jacob and I-"

"Bells! Let's get going, okay?" Charlie yelled from downstairs.

"Be there in a second, Dad!" I yelled back. Turning to Edward, I dropped my voice back to a whisper. "So, to review, Billy knows about you guys. Jacob doesn't. Anything else I need to know?"

His frown deepened. "I suppose not. I still wish you weren't going, though. I'll be as close to the treaty line as I can. And take this," he added, holding his cell phone out to me. "I'll run home and get Alice's. Call her phone if anything – and I mean anything- seems off, all right?"

"I will."

He pulled me close, breathing in my scent, and I felt his kiss on the top of my hair. "Please, be careful, Bella. Please." I nodded into his shoulder, and pulled away. As I walked out of the room, I looked back, but the window was open and I was alone.