Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of the characters.

A/N: Thanks to katmom and Angelinia, who beta this story.

Chapter Thirty

An Unexpected Visitor

It was a completely different experience having Christmas at Charlie's than it was at her mom's. It was odd seeing how excited Charlie was about this, and she wondered if he was always like this or if it was caused by her being there. Charlie told her that he usually worked all day during Christmas and gave the other guys the time off but this year he wasn't planning on going in until four in the afternoon.

Bella was kind of happy about the season, which was aided by the fact that she could finally move about the room without Edward looking like she was about to break, and she was looking forward to making Christmas dinner (lunch, whatever) for them. She asked Charlie if it was all right if Edward came or if he would prefer it to be just the two of them and he said that he had just expected Edward to be there and then subtly hinted that he wouldn't mind if Alice was there too. Bella chuckled at the hint and said that she was sure she could arrange that.

The actual dinner went smoothly and she was really happy that she had this nice Christmas with her dad. It was the first one that she ever remembered having and she knew she would cherish the memory for a long time. After dinner was served Charlie went off to work and Bella went to the Cullens. She was going to be staying at their place since Charlie was going to get home late. He was happy that she had somewhere to go.

"You know it was a year ago to this day that we started reading about you," Edward said as they sat on the couch and the rest of the family was talking to one another around the room. The house was magnificently decorated for the holiday. It almost felt as if she was in a holiday card.

"That's right, it was," Emmett commented with a chuckle, "that was the best Christmas present we've ever gotten."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Edward chuckled. "I got to hear about my Bella..."

"I've been wondering... did you fall in love with me right away?" Bella questioned him, but it was Alice that answered.

"Of course he did, he just didn't realize it for a long time," Alice chuckled.

"Yeah, he was really protective of you from the beginning. He'd growl when I teased about you..." Emmett laughed. "It was really hilarious to watch."

"Whatever," Edward chuckled. "I still think I like this Christmas better," he added holding Bella close to him. "The reality is so much better than the book."

"You've got that right, it's much better seeing the blushing Bella than it is to imagine it," Emmett laughed as Bella tried, and failed, not to blush.

"I think we're all glad you're actually here, and the fact that it's quite easy for us to make you blush is only part of the reason," Jasper said, teasing Bella slightly, but his smile was so genuine that she couldn't help but smile back at him. "You have no idea how much you have changed the whole atmosphere of this house..."

Bella was really starting to blush then and Jasper let the subject drop feeling her discomfort, but sent a wave of gratitude towards her with a smile.

"Speaking of blushing... I think it's time you open your present that we all got you," Emmett said grinning madly.

"Um... I'm not going to like it, am I," Bella said a little afraid of his grin.

"Probably not," Edward chuckled. "But there's nothing you can do about this now, we've got it for you and we'll take no arguments."

"Fine... let me have it," Bella groaned.

"You'll have to come to the garage," Alice said in an excited voice.

"Argh," Bella groaned, she had a very good idea of what she was going to find there. Still she got up and most of the Cullens followed her, and sure enough when she got to the garage there it was, with a bow on top. "Don't tell me this is that missile proof car..."

"Sorry, Love, but I really don't like lying to you," Edward chuckled.

"You don't actually expect me to drive this thing," Bella groaned, causing everyone to chuckle.

"Oh come on, Bella, don't be like that, we've all put hard work into this," Edward said, barely concealing his smile.

"As if, I'm the only one that did any work on the car," Rosalie said.

"Trust me, Bella, my babe has got this engine working at one hundred and ten percent," Emmett smirked.

"Um... thanks," Bella said, not wanting to be rude.

"But you still don't want to drive it," Rosalie chuckled, "Don't worry, I didn't expect you to."

"And you don't really have to worry about that anyway, because I'm going to be driving you most places," Edward said. "It's my hope that you never have to drive again... but just in case, I really want you to have this car."

Bella sighed, "Fine."

The rest of the holiday season seemed to pass by quickly and it felt like no time that school was starting again. It really felt good going back to school, like somehow everything was back to the way it was supposed to be. Her human friends greeted her back with a lot more enthusiasm than she would have liked. She was bright red most of the first day because of all the attention she got. She had to talk to all her teachers so she could get caught up with all of her tests and other things she missed. Edward was by her side during this because he had missed just as many classes as she did (some teachers wouldn't except his excuses and refused to let him make them up but most seemed to allow this).

O

It was late in the day and Jacob was walking home from school when he heard his friends calling his name. He felt guilty that he hadn't been able to talk with them as he normally had, there was so much about his life that he wasn't able to talk to them about... he didn't want to drag them into the wolf thing if he could help it.

He had planned on running away as soon as he got into the forest as they had been trying to corner him for a while now and he didn't have anything to say to them that would make a difference, but he stopped short. There was a scent in the forest that he had never come across before but he knew what caused it; the sickening sweet smell was impossible to deny. He looked around trying to see if he could see anyone around him.

"Hey, Jake!" Embry said, seeming to be relieved that his friend had finally stopped for him, but that vanished as soon as he saw Jacob's face.

"Get out of here now!" Jacob growled, turning to glare at them.

"Jake... we just wanted..." Quil said looking taken aback from Jacob's fierceness.

"I don't want to talk!" Jacob said, praying his friends would just listen to him. They would be safe... or at least a lot safer if they were out in the open. He turned his head wildly and looked through the forest, only this time his eye met someone else. The red eyes peered out from behind a tree far away from where he and his friends were standing. Jacob looked closer at what clearly was a vampire, presumably one that was hunting; at least it seemed that way since it was crouched in the tree. The sandy haired bloodsucker stood as soon as Jacob noticed him and then turned to run away.

Jacob practically growled and moved to follow him but Quil grabbed his shoulder.

"What the hell was that thing," Embry said, a shiver seemed to be going down his spine and Jacob turned to look at his two friends. Their expressions were tense and their faces seemed harder than he'd seen before and Jacob feared what might have just happened to them.

"Let's get out of here," Jacob gritted his teeth, and he pulled his friends out of the forest and quickly told them that he would talk to them later about everything that's been going on with him... and he feared that he was going to have to be a lot more honest than he wanted to be... and then he ran away from them.

As soon as he knew he was out of their sight he transformed and hearing that Sam was there, quickly told him about everything that had happened and they both ran to the spot where the vampire had been so they could pick up its trail.

You should warn the Cullens about this, Sam thought as they got closer to Forks. They had been given permission to cross the line in an emergency like this for no one wanted any innocent to get hurt. If we're involved they might not know something's wrong...

Or this could be one of their dear old man eating friends, Paul thought bitterly but Jacob was already turning back, and as soon as he could he called Alice (for he knew that Edward was hunting right now and wouldn't be close enough to be on the scene).

"Hello," Alice said.

"Alice, there's a vampire here. We don't know if you've seen him or not but we're just warning you," Jacob said. "We're tracking him and his scent seems to be leading towards Forks..."

"No... I haven't seen anything," Alice grumbled and he could tell that she was upset about their involvement. "I'm going to go over to Bella's and make sure she's okay..." she continued to say and then she hissed.

"What? What did you see?" Jacob said worried.

"Nothing! It's blocked!" Alice said and Jacob cursed.

There was no more conversation after that, they were both running towards Bella's, afraid of what might be going on there.

O

Time seemed to go by in a flash filled with happy memories and shared moments. She was sitting in her room remembering the date Edward took her on for the anniversary of their first meeting. He knew better than to take her to a fancy dinner or shower her with gifts. He just took her to their meadow at first, the time of year was all wrong, it was not quite as beautiful as it could be but that place was so special to her that she didn't care about that at all. After that Edward had taken them to a nice private beach where they enjoyed watching the sun sink into the ocean.

She sighed as she remembered the ending of that perfect day and she was starting to wish that Edward was here with her. He had gone hunting earlier that day and he wasn't back yet. Even though he was gone right now, she couldn't help but smile as she remembered the night, for she realized then that there was definitely one good thing about her accident... Edward was in more control of himself than ever and he was much more willing to be close to her.

She suddenly felt a chill go down her spine as she felt as if she was being watched. She slowly turned to her window and her heart pounded in her chest, because there was someone that she didn't know sitting on her windowsill. He was smiling at her in what she assumed was meant to be a kind manner, but all she could notice was his red eyes and pale complexion. His sandy hair was long and was tied back from his face.

"Hello," he said in a cheerful voice and when she made no move to speak and seemed to clearly be panicking he added, "don't worry... I'm not here to hurt you..."

Bella had to bite back the scream that came to her throat, knowing all it would do is make the situation worse. All the scream would do was make Charlie come up to check on her and then...

Bella didn't move as she tried to calm herself down, knowing that he would react to her fear...

"I probably shouldn't have come here first," the man frowned, "I truly didn't mean to scare you... I was just so curious..."

"Curious..." Bella found herself saying, as her thoughts went to Edward, praying that he would come soon.

"Yes... this small town seems to have many curiosities," the man said and then sighed. "You seem to know what I am..."

Bella nodded her head, not sure what else to do.

"Then I also hope you can tell from the color of my eyes that I'm not... thirsty at the moment," he added, clearly attempting to calm her down and Bella did find herself relax slightly, but her heart still pounded in her chest and her eyes were still wide. The man sighed again, "I know it's not as reassuring as if I had yellow eyes... but I assure you that I never hunt until the thirst has become unbearable."

"You know Carlisle's family?" Bella questioned, again feeling more at ease at this but the tension in her body wouldn't go away.

"Yes, I've met them once before... rather intriguing group of vampires," the man smiled. "I came across their scent a few days ago and started heading this way... I wasn't really sure if I was going to see them or not, but I found another scent that was interesting and I was curious about what it was.

"Of course I was side tracked again when I caught your scent... I must say that you have one of the most appealing scents I've ever come across," the man added looking at Bella with a very curious expression and she gulped, taking a step away from him. "Sorry... that was rude of me... and that is not why I'm here."

"Why...?" Bella tried to ask.

"You're scent was so interwoven with theirs, especially Edward's..." the man explained. "The scent was so strong in this house that I almost expected Edward to be here... I was just curious... it's odd, even for this coven... um... family... to be this close to a human."

"I'm Edward's mate," Bella answered softly and she almost kicked herself for not saying this earlier for that was probably the only protection she had against a vampire coming in her room... they would of course not be afraid of her but they wouldn't want to mess with another vampire's mate (at least if they were smart they wouldn't want that).

"I see," the man smiled before it faltered slightly. "It's probably bad that I came here... I should have followed the other trail. I'm sure Edward wouldn't appreciate me being here terrifying his mate."

"No... I don't think he would," Bella agreed and the man turned to go but paused at the window. "I was just wondering... who are you?"

"Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself," the man said, "I'm Garrett."

"Oh," Bella said completely taken off guard by that and not sure how she should feel. She had liked Garrett from the books... and they were all hoping they could talk to him and tell him to go to Denali so he could meet Kate... but that didn't make him less terrifying being in here with her alone while she was still human.

Garrett raised his eyebrow at her and she realized that he noticed that she recognized the name and was curious about her reaction to him.

"The Cullens talk a lot about you... especially Emmett..." Bella said weakly not sure what else to say but Garrett seemed to be less suspicious now. "And I'm Bella."

"It's nice to meet you," Garrett said.

Bella was sure he was going to disappear any moment but he just kept sitting there. She started to get really panicked again. Why was he still here? Didn't he say that he was going to leave?

"I just have one more question for you," Garrett said and she nodded her head. "Are you friends with these wolves, or would it be okay if I fought them?"

"What?" Bella asked actually walking closer to the vampire but she had to so she could see what he was talking about. Sure enough, she was just able to make out the black shape of a wolf, in the night. The only detail that was clear was the eyes, that where narrowed dangerously. "Oh crap."

"So they are your friends," Garrett sighed, he had moved to the other side of the room when she had gone to the window. As confident as he was at not actually hurting a human when he wasn't thirsty, her scent was rather more powerful than he thought and actually being close to her was making his resolve weaver. "This is not good... I really must be leaving..."

"You never should have... Garrett?" Alice was suddenly in Bella's room, she was crouched in a fighting stance that didn't loosen after recognizing the vampire but her eyes weren't as cold.

"Alice," Garrett said as he too was crouched, his defensive instincts taking over. "I'm not here to cause trouble..."

"I really don't think he was..." Bella said from behind Alice who was obvious standing in front of her for protection.

"Of course you don't," Alice said sounding exasperated. Bella wouldn't know what a dangerous situation was if it bit her. No matter how controlled Garrett might be, a split second lapse and something terrible could happen. "I suggest that we leave here now..."

"Of course... those wolves aren't going to cause us any trouble are they?" Garrett questioned with an almost hopeful expression that Bella had seen in Emmett's expression many times (he wouldn't have minded the fight).

"If you're with me, they will leave us alone," Alice answered standing up from her crouch at the same time that Garrett did.

"All right then," Garrett said and the next thing Bella knew both Garrett and Alice were gone. She wasn't alone for long. Jacob was soon climbing through her window and his expression was murderous.

"What was that about?" he demanded.

"I'm not sure really," Bella feeling good that at least one of her super natural friends was with her. "But that was Garrett..."

"You mean the bloodsucker that is supposed to head out to Denali..." Jacob hissed.

"That would be him," Bella said looking at Jacob closely. "Are you okay?"

"Why do you ask?" Jacob grumbled.

"Because you're acting like he's the biggest monster in the world and you know that if everything works out the way it's supposed to he probably will become a vegetarian," Bella said.

"He came in here... he could have killed you and..." Jacob snarled his hands were starting to shake.

"Calm down, Jake," Bella said grabbing his hand and he relaxed into her grip.

"It's Quil and Embry... they were there when I saw him..." Jacob explained in a softer tone. "They looked odd afterward..."

Bella gasped, understanding what he was trying to say.

"I don't know for sure... but it's possible that they're going to transform now..." Jacob bowed his head. "Being that close to a vampire... it had to affect their genes..."

"Oh... I'm so sorry, Jake," Bella sighed and leaned in to give him a comforting hug.

O

"It seems like I can't leave you alone for a second," Edward said and Bella got out of her bed and ran to hug him.

"Oh, Edward," she said, she had needed to feel his arms around her for a long time.

"I guess that's my cue to leave," Jacob said. He and Bella had been talking since Alice had left with Garrett. He could tell that Bella didn't really want to be alone, which was good, because he wasn't about to leave her when he knew a vampire was in the town.

"Thank you... for coming here... and for calling Alice," Edward said to Jacob, who just nodded his head before he left.

"So you know what happened," Bella said biting her lip.

"Of course," Edward said and as he led them back to the bed. She could feel how reluctant he was to release her. She didn't know what it was, for his arms where just as steady as ever, and he always wanted to hold her, but she could feel his panic in every move he made. "Imagine my surprise when I got home with my brothers and I sensed an extra person in our house... and that would have been fine, for he was talking with Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie and Alice rather nicely. As soon as he saw me though, he thought of you..."

Edward shuddered and Bella pressed her lips against his chest to try and calm him down.

"I think the only thing that prevented me from ripping him from limb to limb was the fact that his thoughts were benign towards you... though Emmett's grip on my shoulder might have helped too," Edward said his voice tense.

"I'm glad you didn't do that," Bella said and Edward looked down at her.

"I suppose I am too... but I can't stand to think of him actually being in here," he finished with a growl.

"Is he still in town?" Bella asked.

"No... Emmett and Rosalie decided to take him straight to Denali," Edward said. "They seemed to think that was safest for him..." he added with a dark look.

"Well, look at it this way, at least this time things went better than they did in the book," Bella said obviously trying to cheer him up but he just narrowed his eyes further. "You know... seeing as he wasn't actually trying to kill me..."

"That's not helping, Bella!" Edward growled. "Don't you realize how much danger you were in today?!"

"Yes," Bella said, and her lips quivered. "I was terrified..."

"Sh..." Edward said soothingly, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to..."

"But at least now I know it's over," Bella said relaxing, "and you're here to comfort me."

"I never should have let you be alone," Edward groaned. "I thought you would be safe in your home... if you didn't go out and meet danger, but you can't even do that without being put in danger."

"Sorry," Bella sighed.

"It's okay..." Edward sighed too.

"Are you worrying about what's going to come next?" Bella asked after a long and tense silence.

"Yeah," Edward said smiling at the fact that she knew that's what he was thinking. "You had a point... this wasn't as bad as it could have been... but I can't help but think about what is going to be coming at us next... What other trials do we have to face?"

"I've been thinking about that all day," Bella admitted. "But I decided there's no point in worrying about that... whatever is going to come, will come..."

"That seems to be more optimistic than I would have expected from you," Edward pointed out. "And here I thought you liked to worry about every little thing."

"I'm with you," Bella answered. "As long as we're together, I know we will get through this."

"You're right," Edward smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Now get some sleep, you've had an exciting night."

"Goodnight, Edward," Bella sighed into his chest and he started humming her lullaby and soon she was asleep.