Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight


Chapter Eleven

*Ethan's POV*

"You think Ness will like it?" Jacob asked me, fiddling with the red box in his hands. "I mean, I wanted to give her something nice-"

"Jake, she'll love it," I reassured my friend. "I just hope Lily doesn't get weirded out with mine."

Jake and I went out to do some errands for Esme and Carlisle today, but on the way we passed an old jewelry store. Jake found the perfect present to give Renesmee for her graduation. Meanwhile, I wasn't going to get Lily anything until I saw some rings being displaced. It reminded me of something my mother once owned. Something I had for years, but wanted to give it to the right girl.

"I think she'll like it. Girls like that kind of stuff," Jacob said, placing the jewelry box he just bought into his pocket. "I would do the same, but I already did that for Ness years ago."

"You gave Renesmee a promise ring?" I questioned, raising my eyebrows to look at him. "When? Like as a kid?"

"Yeah," Jacob answered simply like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I felt my eyes widen as I drove the car down our street. "It wasn't like a promise ring. Technically, a promise bracelet from my tribe-"

"Still dude, how old was she?" I questioned incredulously.

"She wasn't even a year. It was her first Christmas. When the Volturi were coming any day now to see if she was an immortal child. Long story short, I gave it to her as a promise. A promise that I'd always protect her no matter what," Jacob told me as I turned into our driveway. "Anyway that's all it was. An innocent promise."

"Alright, that makes a little more sense," I muttered, shrugging.

"Dude, may I remind you that your girlfriend isn't even your imprint yet you've known her since she was a kid," Jacob pointed out. "So don't act like I'm the only one here."

I frowned at him, "Yeah, but I didn't have any sort of relationship with her until she was probably physically fifteen. That's when we started really talking and then I think we became friends when she was around physically sixteen...From there, I don't know. It just turned into a girlfriend boyfriend thing once we were both ready."

"We really have weird relationships," Jacob mentioned, chuckling a bit. I chuckled too as I turned the engine off.

My laughing stopped though. That's when I noticed something wasn't right. I could tell by the fact Lucas was still here. His car was parked in our driveway. He would've gone back to Robert and Cordelia's by now. Then there was the fact all the lights were on. It was one am. By now, everyone who sleeps in the house are asleep so this place tends to be pretty dark.

"Jake!" I look to see Renesmee dashing out of the garage door. Panic filled her face as she aimed straight for her boyfriend.

"Ness?" Jake questioned, getting out of the car. "What's going-"

Renesmee cut him off by jumping into his arms. He looked surprised as he held on tightly to her. "Nessie, what happened? What's going on?"

"I think we should go inside," Renesmee whispered, touching his cheek gently. I could tell she used to tell him whatever happened with her power. His face immediately went to stone. He turned to look at me. His expression blank.

"I think we should..." Jacob then looked back at Renesmee with fear in his eyes. He wrapped his arm tightly around her as they headed into the house.

I frowned in confusion. What the hell happened? I followed the two of them into the house where the others were all gathered. I spotted Masen first, his hands clenched in fists. Grace was gripping on to him, whispering soothing words to him. I tried to find Lily next, but she was no where in sight. Neither were Rosalie, Emmett, or Aidan. I started feeling nervous, my stomach heavy.

"What's going on?" I asked slowly. I searched for answers, but everyone seemed hesitant.

"Ethan," My brother approached me. I frowned right away. Why was he so nervous? "We need to talk."

"What happened?" I anxiously questioned, getting worried.

"Something happened tonight and I don't know if you're going to like it," Lucas said gently, sitting me down. I looked back to see Carlisle and Masen approaching me as well. Jasper was currently sending a sense of calmness throughout our anxious family.

"What could've possibly happened-"

"It has to do with Lily," Masen spoke up. When he said my girlfriend's name, my entire body froze up. Lily...

"What!?" I demanded now, getting more frustrated. "What happened to her? Is she okay!?"

"Tonight at the prom, she was sexually assaulted by her ex boyfriend," Carlisle told me. I could tell he was trying to say it in a gentle way to not upset me. "He didn't have the chance to complete what he was trying to do, but I promise you she's okay now. He-"

I felt like fire was now consuming my veins. Austin. I knew he was trouble. Damn it! I knew! I freaking knew! I growled, feeling every instinct in my body take over. I was going to kill the little punk.

"Ethan, look at me. Brother, look at me," Lucas ordered, putting a hand on my shoulder. "She's alright-"

"He touched her," I snarled, my hands in fists. "How dare he- She...I'm going to kill him!" I flew up, only to blocked by my brother and Masen. The rest of the family seemed to be on the watch now. "Why didn't you tell me earlier!? Why now! I would've have taken my sweet ass time- I would have come home. I would've-"

"We don't want you killing the boy," My adopted father stated calmly. "Ethan, listen-"

"No. I'm not going to listen!" I snapped. I never snapped at Carlisle. I don't think anyone would ever want to, but my head was racing at this point.

"Ethan-"

And like I said, I wouldn't listen. I ran out the back door of the house before any of them could catch me. I just had one thing on my mind- blood. Murder. I wanted to this boy dead. That's all that was on my mind as I ran straight into central park. I wasn't sure where he is right now, but if I remember correctly where his house was-

"Brother, don't you dare," Lucas hissed, grabbing a hold of me. I seethed at him, ready to shake him off.

"Not now, Lucas!" I growled.

"No. Now. Don't do this. Think of Lily!" He snapped, holding me down. I tried to push him away, but all he did was tackle me down to the ground in one swift move.

"You may be the oldest, but I know how to fight. Don't test me," Lucas warned, putting me into a choke hold. "I used to work for the Volturi. I can take you down with one move!"

"No!" I cried out. "Lucas, don't you dare!"

"Don't I dare? You're the one about to murder a boy! Take a deep breath and just think for a moment," Lucas ordered me.

"I-"

"Ethan Rider!" That's when I stopped. I looked up to see Lily running towards me in her pajamas. Her beautiful face was tear stained. "Stop it! Now!"

"Lily," I breathed, seeing her standing before me.

"Don't do this," Lily pleaded, shaking her head. Tears were welding up in her eyes. "I hate what he did to me, but what I need right now is my boyfriend. I need you, Ethan. Please."

My body relaxed as she came running towards me. Gently, Lily cupped my face with her hand. "What I need right now is you," She begged, holding on tightly to me. I could feel the tears soaking up within the fabric of my shirt. "I love you and I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" I whispered, looking at her calmly now. "You have nothing to be sorry for-"

"He touched-"

"He touched you without your permission. You were drugged, for God's sake Lily...I love you. I love you so much it hurts," I said, holding on tightly to her. The tears trying to escape my eyes. "You mean the entire world to me...I can't stand the fact someone hurt you."

"I...I know," Lily stammered, closing her eyes tightly. "I just...Everything was going so well between us. I never want it to end."

"And it won't, mo ghrĂ idh," I whispered to her, running my hand through her hair. "Lillian Hale I will love you till the end of time. Nothing can ever stop me from loving you."

"Good," Lily replied, a small watery smile on her face. She then crawled into my arms and I held her close to me.

I looked up to see Lucas, Aidan, and Masen with relief on their faces. "I'm sorry," I mouthed to them. They nodded their heads in understanding. Meanwhile, I pick up Lily in my arms and cradle her close, never wanting to let go.

We arrived back at the house in no time. I felt bad for the way I acted, but everyone seemed to understand. Without any further words, I walked with my girlfriend back to her bedroom. I could tell she was still awake, so gently I placed her on one side of the bed while I laid on the other so we were facing each other.

Lily wiped a few tears from her eyes and reached out to cup my cheek.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked her gently.

She bit her lip and shook her head, "Not tonight, but soon."

"Okay," I whispered. I could feel that she was ashamed through my power. Gently, I reached my hand into my pocket to feel the small box. Without further warning, I pulled it out and placed it in front of her. She frowned at me but before she could say another word I opened it up.

"Look, it's not what you think," I explained, holding the silver ring up. "I was waiting to give it to you when you finished your junior year, but...It's a claddagh ring. It's a custom from Ireland. The ring represents love, loyalty, and friendship. In a way, it's kind of like a promise ring but it means more to that. My father gave one to my mother. He was a Scot, but it was something very special to her since she was Irish. Anyway, on their first wedding anniversary he gave her one...And well, this was my mothers."

"Oh Ethan," Lily gasped. I could smell the salt from her tears welding up.

"It's the last thing I have of her...So this, this means a lot to me. Just like you mean a lot to me. Lillian Hale, I love you and I will for the rest of eternity. I promise to be loyal and to protect you with my body if needed. I will be your best friend and love you with my entire being."

Lily stared at me with wide eyes. Without saying anything else she leaned over and kissed me passionately. When we broke away she looked at me with such love and compassion. "And I vow the same, to you Ethan Rider. You are everything to me."

I smiled as she reached out to give me her finger. Gently, I slipped the ring on her finger. Her eyes lit up as she then curled into my side. Her hand with the ring resting on my chest. I then brought her hand up to my lips, kissing it gently before placing it back.

And we stayed like that for the rest of the night. I just held her as tightly as I could. I also vowed to her right there and then I would do everything in my power so she wouldn't have to feel this pain again.

*Renesmee's POV*

"Everyone's okay. Lily and Ethan are both upstairs," Masen announced to the family. We were all sitting in Aunt Rose and Uncle Em's living room. He immediately headed straight for Grace, holding her tightly in his arms.

"I'm glad everyone's okay," My grandmother spoke up. "I will tell you this, Carlisle and I will call the school board tomorrow and demand that the boy is expelled."

"I don't think there is any chance of him not being expelled. The whole thing was caught on video camera," Lucas mentioned. "I saw a security camera in the corner. Don't worry, as long as Aidan boy didn't expose his powers we're good."

"I didn't," Aidan said, shaking his head. "I wanted to kill him, but the violence I used wasn't anything to vampire like."

Jen nodded her head in confirmation. She sat down by Aidan and took his hand tightly in hers, "He just pushed him and held him up against the wall."

"Alright. Good, we'll use that in our defense," Grandpa muttered. "They won't question anyway too much. We gave them a pretty big donation last year, so if they think they'll be messing with the Cullen's then they're wrong."

I sighed, hugging tightly to my arms. I was worried for Lily. I hope she'll be okay after this.

"She'll recover," My dad whispered to me, clearly hearing my thoughts. "It'll take a bit, but she'll get there. Lily is strong."

I nodded stiffly as my dad wrapped an arm around me, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. My mom then came over and kissed my cheek, "You should get some sleep. And this goes for everyone. It's been a long night."

"Yes it has," I agreed, rubbing my eyes. After saying goodnight to my family, I retired upstairs with Jacob, Grace, and Masen. My best friend was slung under my brother's arm.

"Do you guys still even want to go on the camping trip?" I asked, my tone full of worry. "Or do you think Lily will even want to go now? It's in a week."

"I don't know yet," Masen replied. "I say we should still go. I don't know what Lily wants to do, but I'm sure she'll be okay. Then again, let's just see how she feels."

"Okay," I said, agreeing with him. "I just feel terrible that this happened to her..."

"That's why we're going to make our senior prom extra special. Since Lily can come, Aidan's going to give up being Grace's date so Grace is going to take Ethan instead," Masen explained to me. "So he'll be with her the whole time. Not as protection or anything, just so she feels comfortable and they get to enjoy themselves. She deserves the chance to enjoy a prom."

"Yeah," I agreed. "Well...I guess we'll see you guys tomorrow morning."

"Night, Ness," Grace said to me. "Jake."

After saying goodnight, Jacob and I headed into my bedroom. I was restless though. I kept tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable on the mattress.

"Are you okay?" Jacob asked me in the midst of the night.

"I don't know," I confessed, shrugging. "I just...I kind of feel terrible about what's happened. Can't seem to shake it off."

"Lily's your cousin. Honestly probably more like a sister," Jacob said, reaching out hold my hand. "The way you two were raised proves that. She's your little sister just as much as Lizzy is."

"Yeah." I sighed, "I just...The world is a scary place. Supernatural or human...It's just scary."

Jacob nodded in agreement, "It is, but you just gotta push through."

"Just hold me. Please," I whispered in the dark of the night.

"Always," He replied as I crawled into his arms. I just buried my face into Jacob's chest as I let his warmth flood me. His embrace comforting me.

Then I just let the sleep take over me, hoping Lily would be okay. I know that's the only thing everyone wanted right now.

*Aidan's POV*

I sighed, looking up at the dark New York sky. Right now I was currently on the roof top of the house. I couldn't sleep. I guess you can say the past couple of hours have been pretty hectic for me. I hated feeling this way. I was always the happy go lucky guy. I don't do grim. I do hilarious. I make stupid jokes that make everyone laugh...I am not a killer. My sister isn't supposed to get harmed. It just doesn't feel right.

"Hey." I turn around to see Jen making her way over. She was still in her prom dress and even though it was a bit disheveled, she still looked beautiful.

"Hey," I repeated. Jen then carefully made her way over to where I was sitting. She criss crossed her legs as she sat down next to me.

"How are you?" She asked me quietly.

I shrugged, "I don't feel myself."

"I can tell," Jen said, placing a hand on top of mine. "I hate seeing you like this. I want to see a smile on your face...Maybe not now, but soon. You aren't you without a smile."

"The same goes for you," I pointed out. "Recently you've been acting weird...Jen, I don't like seeing you upset either."

She bit her lip and shrugged, "Look, it's not important now why I'm upset. I'm fine now. It was stupid."

"Was it?" I questioned curiously.

"Yeah," Jen admitted, shyly tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Look, I just wanted to know you were okay. I can go now if you want-"

"No, stay," I begged softly. "Please."

Jen gave me a gentle smile, "Of course."

The two of us just sat in the dark with the stars looking down at us. "Remember how we had a marathon of the X-Files last summer," I mentioned to her. "And we thought since well, we're real maybe aliens are. We tried to prove aliens were real, but when we were trying to we ended up breaking Uncle Jasper's telescope in the process. I thought he was going to kill us, but instead he shrugged it off. Told us he'd buy a new one."

"Yeah. I remember," Jen said, chuckling. "We can be kind of dumb, can't we?"

"We can," I agreed, smiling. I then took her hand and stood up, bringing her with me.

"What are you doing?" Jen questioned curiously, raising her eyebrows at me.

"Give me a moment," I told her, grinning like an idiot. I then found my iphone in my back pocket. From there I pressed play and let What Dreams are Made of by Hilary Duff.

"You have Hilary Duff on there?" Jen questioned through a fit of giggles.

"Not just any Hilary Duff song, the What Dreams are Made of song from the hit Hilary Duff movie," I exclaimed, causing her to burst out in a fit of giggles.

"Why though?" Jen asked as I offered her my hand.

"Well, since our prom cut short, we didn't get to finish showing off our mad dance moves. Or slow dance for that matter, and well...Why not," I insisted, grinning at her. Jen chuckled, taking my hand as I spun her around.

We then danced like the major idiots we were. I was doing every possible dance move with Jen, until the moment she reached touch down back in my arms. We both smiled at each other as I wrapped my arms around her waist and she wrapped hers around my neck.

"You're sweet. You know that," Jen said to me softly.

"I try." I grinned. She just chuckled before leaning her head on my shoulder. Meanwhile I just rocked this beautiful young woman, in a ivy colored dress, on the roof top among the stars.

If you can't more poetic than this, you're freaking nuts.


A/N: So I hope you guys enjoyed that! Luckily the next few chapters will get lighter! The Cullen kids will be going on a camping trip and let me tell you, that gets pretty crazy so be ready for that ;) Anyway, in the meantime thanks for reading, reviewing, and be on the lookout for the next update!