After Elena's rescue, days passed by peacefully. Quil went back to La Push after a couple days, he had been missing Claire. Embry and Jake decided to stay after having adapted so well to Mystic Falls. I couldn't be happier. Charlie did renovations at the house, dividing the huge guest room into two smaller rooms, so the boys could have their own rooms. Dad seemed happy about their decision to stay and eventually, watching them interact over a football game, I realized they were the sons Charlie never had. Boys with whom he could talk about sports and the opposite sex without awkwardness. Embry and Jake got part time jobs, but still found time to run in the woods as wolves sometimes.

Elena and Stefan were back again, and they seemed happy, although if you really looked at them you could see they had hidden worries. Caroline continued talking to Tyler to help him out. Matt noticed Caroline stopped obsessing over him and was suspicious of her friendship with Tyler. Bonnie and I formed a friendship with Jeremy, but Bonnie was closer to him than I. Jake, Embry, Stefan, Matt and Tyler had become friends over their football practices.

I did work on witchcraft, well, I tried. I tried to open the book and when I couldn't find the key, I decided to put it aside. I bought candles and stared at them, sometimes for hours, but nothing happened. I even asked Bonnie for help but she told me not to worry, that if it was meant to happen it would.

As to Damon… Well, Damon disappeared. I continued to refuse to talk to him for the first couple days, ignoring his calls and keeping busy with the girls or with Jake and Embry. He then stopped calling, and showing up unannounced. Sometimes I saw him at the Grill, drinking with Alaric, but I never went to talk to him.

Mysteriously, my gifts kept coming. At first, the necklace for the Masquerade I considered some kind of joke from Victoria. But the day after she was gone I received a set of bracelets. I showed them to Caroline, fashion expert, and she confirmed, they were real diamonds and sapphires. Then three days later, I was getting out of the shower when I saw a box in my bed. I opened it and found shoes that would match perfectly with the outfit I was going to wear that day. I didn't wear the shoes or the bracelet. I was sure they had been from Damon, and I didn't want anything from him.

And then I got the freakiest gift. A complete set of jewelry right before I went to meet the girls at the Grill. The thing was… it matched my outfit. An outfit I had just thought in my mind, and hadn't taken from my closet. Damon wouldn't be able to know what would match it.

I was walking into school with Jake, Bonnie and Jeremy, we were talking about going to the Grill that night play billiard and have dinner, when Bonnie bumped into someone. Her folder fell and the guy turned with an apologetic smile.

"Sorry" he said chuckling and he and Bonnie picked up her stuff. "I'm kind of lost"

"Are you new?" Jeremy asked.

"Yes" he fixed the backpack strap on his shoulder. "I'm Luka"

"I'm Bonnie" she said shaking his hand, they eyes locked for a moment with surprise in hers while he just smiled knowingly. Jeremy cleared his throat. "Oh, and these are Jeremy, Bella and Jake"

"Nice to meet you" I said.

"You too" he said staring at me for a moment and then turned back to Bonnie. "Where is the office?"

"I'll walk you there, I'm going that way" Jeremy said.

They walked away and I arched an eyebrow at Bonnie. Jake said he was out and walked away saying he could see it was girl stuff. I teased Bonnie about catching the eye of the new guy, but she just said she got a weird vibe from him. I left the subject alone and we went to class. I was walking to the cafeteria with Caroline, hearing all about the plans she had for school balls. Something about the 60's. Stefan walked to us with a frown.

"Hey, girls. Have you seen Elena?" he asked.

"Well, hello to you too, Stefan" Caroline said sarcastically.

"Sorry, I'm just worried" he said smiling sheepishly.

"It's okay" I laughed. "Ahn, no I haven't seen her. She wasn't in Calculus"

"Caroline?"

"Oh! Elena? She woke up late and came in late. I saw her earlier" Caroline said.

"Oh, okay, thanks" he said frowning and walked away.

I arched an eyebrow at Caroline. Elena never woke up late, she was a morning person. She just shrugged and I stopped her before we reached the table our friends were waiting in.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

"Nothing" she said immediately.

"Caroline, you lied to Stefan and you're lying to me. Now, where is Elena? Is she okay?"

"Okay" she looked around for any eavesdropper. "I left her at the tomb, she wanted to talk to Katherine. She asked me to stall Stefan"

"But she will be alright, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, she won't get close enough to Katherine to touch her"

"What did she want to ask Katherine?"

"She read a book about Katherine's family they found in Isobel's office and she wants to get some answers"

I let it go, since it seemed like something Elena needed to do. I told her I would help her stall Stefan and she thanked me before we joined the others.

I was walking out of school with Bonnie, planning the weekend, when I saw Stefan talking to Caroline with a deep frown. I said goodbye to Bonnie and joined Caroline. She was telling Stefan Elena had gone to the bathroom because of a bad case of cramps.

"Cramps?" he asked disbelieving.

"Hey" I interrupted with a smile, realizing then I had nothing to distract him with. "Listen, Stefan… Where is Damon?"

"What?" he frowned at me.

"Damon?" Why the hell was I asking that?

"Oh. Eh… He is out of town with Rose"

"Who's Rose?" Caroline and I asked in unison.

"One of the vampires that kidnapped Elena, she's trying to help us"

"You have the enemy in your house" I said shocked.

"She has information we would never get from Katherine" he said.

"What is Damon doing with this 'Rose' out of town?" Caroline asked.

"Research. She knows someone who can help us" Stefan said and arched an eyebrow. "Why? Why did you want to talk to him?"

"Oh… Ahn, I didn't. Just wondering" I shrugged.

"You two are terrible liars" he accused. "Where is Elena?"

"At the bathroom" Caroline lied.

"Caroline" Stefan warned.

"Okay! She's at the tomb, getting information from Katherine" she sighed.

"You helped her?" he snapped. "Why? Katherine will only play mind games with Elena!"

"I did warn her of that, but she still insisted on going"

He turned, hopped in his car and drove away at top speed, surely to get Elena.

I entered my house, dropping the bag on the foyer. Dad was working, Jake and Embry too. I really needed to find something to do or I would die of boredom while I was alone at my house. I went into the kitchen and got a glass of juice before turning to go to my room. But as I was reaching the stairs I froze. I stepped back and looked back into the living room. No. I was going insane. I was hallucinating.

"Bella" he said in that velvet voice I had missed so much.

He gave me a weak smile and my eyes grew wide.

"Edward"

The glass on my hand broke and cut my hand. Edward's eyes snapped to my hand. The window's glass shattered followed by the glass of a photo frame. He looked around trying to understand what was going on. Somehow, I knew it was me. I turned and started to run upstairs, but as I was reaching the top of the stairs I saw Alice sitting in my bed. I gasped, tripped and fell, hitting my head. And then everything went black.

"Is she going to be alright?"

"Yes, son. Just a nasty bump"

"Shouldn't she be waking up?"

"Well, she did get emotionally overwhelmed, Alice. Give her time"

I blinked my eyes, not believing what I was hearing. I was in my bed; Carlisle was by my side, with my wrist in his hand. He gave me a sad smile, his golden eyes full of concern.

"C-Carlisle?" I asked shakily.

"Hello, Bella"

I shot up in bed and crawled backwards, away from him. Edward was right behind him and Alice was sitting in the end of the bed.

"What…? How?" I asked eyeing them.

Carlisle stood up, and with a nod, Alice followed him out of my room. Edward hesitantly took Carlisle's spot, and reached for me, but then his hand recoiled as if he wasn't sure it was alright.

"Edward?"

"Yes, love?" he said with a sad smile.

"You're here?" I asked tears gathering in my eyes, he nodded. "You're here" I cried happily.

I jumped on him, wrapping my arms around his neck. He hugged me back, careful with his strength and kissed my forehead.

"Oh, god, you're really here" I cried in his shoulder. "Why… Why are you here?" I asked pulling back and wiping my tears.

"Oh, love… I shouldn't have left at all" he said cupping my face and wiping my tears gently. "I thought it was best for you. I thought I was protecting you"

"What?" I asked frowning. "Wait… You left to protect me?"

"Yes"

"Do you know how stupid that sounds?" I snapped scowling. "Do you know how stupid that was?"

"I do now, and I regret it, love. I'm so sorry…"

"You broke my heart" I said frowning at him. "And now you're back, and all you have to say is, you're sorry?" I shook my head. "No. No. What? Do you even know what I've been through…?"

"Alice updated me on most of it. Victoria left a false trail to South America, I tried to hunt her but… She fooled me. I'm so sorry I left you when you needed protection"

"I needed you, Edward!" I snapped. "Victoria was nothing. Do you have any idea how I was after you left me?" the sorrow that filled his eyes told me he did. "Who's mind have you been looking into?"

"Charlie's" he admitted.

"How long have you been in town?" I frowned.

"A couple days"

I scoffed and stood up, pacing around the room. I couldn't believe him. He was watching me for the last couple days and waited this much to show up. I was so mad at him that a frame with a picture of mom and I shattered. I stopped pacing and stared at it, taking deep breaths.

"Why did you come back now? Why took you so long?" I asked calmly.

"Alice only started to have visions of you two weeks ago. I had asked her to stop, but she broke her promise…"

"She saw me two weeks ago. Took you two weeks to come here?"

"No… Only a few days ago she saw how much danger you were in" he said standing up with a frown. "I leave you to protect you from my kind and you find another? Do you know how dangerous that was, Bella?"

"You know about them" I mumbled.

"Yes… It's dangerous, Bella. They can shut off their humanity whenever they want…"

"They have control better than yours" I said softly.

"True" he scowled. "But it's still dangerous. We need to leave, Bella"

"What? No! I can't" I said. "Do you understand, really? Don't you see? I belong here!"

"This town is full of dangers…"

"I am one of them, right?" I snapped. "I am a witch, so what? Don't you think some of this will follow me anywhere I go? It doesn't matter where I am, Edward. I'm the problem. I'm the supernatural magnet, remember?"

"I can't force you to leave" he sighed. "But you will have to promise me you will be careful"

"What? Wait, are you leaving again?" I asked shocked.

"Yes. I don't want to, Bella" he said. "But it's too sunny here and me and my family would be stuck inside a house. We have to see how the Quileutes will deal with our presence…"

"You're leaving again" I mumbled. "You're leaving me again. I can't believe you"

"I don't want to, Bella"

"Then don't" I said stepping closer to him. "I just got you back…"

"I don't want to leave, but I can't stay here either" he said sadly.

"I'll talk to Jake, and… we'll think something out for the sun…" I said gripping his shirt. "Just don't leave me now. I can't take it. I know you will leave sometime…"

"I won't ever leave you again, not if you don't tell me to. I love you, Bella"

I was too shocked to do or say anything and he kissed me. I tensed but then let myself relax in his arms. I pulled him closer and tried to deepen the kiss. He didn't let me, of course. When he pulled back, my mind cleared from the fog. I shook my head and frowned at nothing.

"You love me? You said you didn't want me…"

"It was a lie. The blackest form of blasphemy and I'll never forgive myself for it" he said. "I suffered every second I was away from you, love"

"You suffered?" I scoffed and pulled away from him. "Wow, you left me dead in the woods and you dare to come here and tell me you suffered?"

"Bella" he said reaching for me.

"No!" I slapped his hand away.

I ran downstairs, passing a shocked Alice, and grabbing my keys and ran out of the house. It was sunny out. They couldn't follow me yet. I entered my car, and drove top speed away from there. I drove in circles, my mind too jumbled to think of a destination. The sun would set down soon. For a moment I thought on just running away from Virginia and go to my mom. I felt like a little girl with a scrapped knee, running to momma. I shook my head. Mom. Jacksonville.

Damon.

I made a sharp turn, probably earning a ticket, and drove top speed to the Salvatore's boarding house. I was relieved to see only Damon's car on the driveway. I got out and ran inside the house.

But it seemed it was not my day. I wiped my tears making sure I was seeing correctly.

A girl with short black hair and blue eyes was standing with a look of surprise as she slipped her arms on the sleeves of Damon's shirt. The bastard was buttoning his jeans. He stared at me.

Rose, the fucking guest.

I let out a mirthless laugh, and shook my head.

"Bella…" he started.

I gestured for him to stop, and the girl's phone rang. She quietly excused herself and left the room to answer it. Damon took a step in my direction but I stepped back frowning at him. Why did I think I would be alright if I found him? I hit the table behind me and I turned.

"Bella, what… ahn, listen…"

I ignored him, grabbed a bottle and headed toward the door. He blocked my way at the foyer.

"Let me pass, Damon" I deadpanned.

"What's wrong?" he said reaching for me.

"Don't touch me" I snarled. "I wanted a friend. I've got one" I lifted the bottle.

"Wait, what happened to you?" he asked frowning concernedly.

"Edward is back, that's what happened to me"

He stared at me with a scowl, and as Stefan and Elena walked in, I took the chance and ran out of the house. I got in my car, and drove away from there. My phone began to ring and I looked at the screen. Elena. I ignored the call, and continued to drive as I sobbed. Could this day get any worse? I looked at the bottle in my passenger seat. No, I still wasn't pathetic enough to drown my sorrows with alcohol alone. Was I?

My phone rang again as I reached the limits of town. I looked at it and saw it was Stefan's number. I rejected the call. And then it rang again. This time Damon's number. He never knew how to take no for an answer.

"What?" I snapped answering the phone.

"Where the hell are you?" he asked and I could hear a car's engine in the background.

"Still not away enough from you or Edward"

"Bella, stop the car and let's talk…" Elena said. Great, I was on speaker.

"Just leave me alone. I can't deal with anymore shit right now"

"Bella, stop that damn car before you or anyone else get hurt" Damon ordered.

"Leave me alone" I snapped and hung up.

I looked back at the road and something caught my eye. Someone on the edge of the forest. Sparkling. I hit the brakes, but the car didn't stop, it glided and then it flipped. When it stopped, I groaned at the pain, and tried to move out of the car. I heard my phone ringing and turned my head to the side, looking for it. I couldn't find it. I tried to crawl out of the car and when I finally hit the pavement, I laid down, waiting. I heard footsteps but they weren't hurried like I expected. I looked to the left and saw a vampire approaching, his skin was sparkling in the last rays of sun, and his blood red eyes told me he was not friendly. I groaned and tried to get up, but couldn't.

"Who are you? What do you want?" I asked.

"Revenge" he said with a smirk. "You killed my girlfriend"

"What?" I frowned. God, my luck with vengeful vampires sucked.

"I'll kill you slowly, just like Vicky would have liked"

I closed my eyes. Great, Victoria had to come back and haunt me.

Edward left to protect me. Damon told me he would protect me.

When one comes back, and I run to the other, who turns out was way over me, I get in an accident, who leads me to the danger everyone tried to protect me from. Oh, the irony.

I heard a metallic tearing noise and opened my eyes. The man's body fell on the ground, headless and then it burst into flames. I looked back up and saw a man looking down at me with curiosity. He seemed to be in his mid-twenties, with dark brown hair and green eyes. He wore expensive looking clothes, a suit. He had a blue stone ring and I knew he was a vampire too.

"Shh, don't be afraid" he said soothingly and crouched giving me a small smile. "I won't hurt you"

AN: So, the mystery of the necklace is solved... It was Alice, the fashionista, of course!
And the vengeful vampire at the end... Well, to those who didn't get it... It's Riley Biers... Redheaded Victoria... Just now I've realized that there would be two Vickies - one from VD (Vicky Donovan) and one from Twilight :S

Hope you're enjoying it!

REVIEW!

xoxo Luuh