"To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle."

-Walt Whitman

I should have known, of course, that Red would know.

She was in my arms the second I stepped into the door. But as soon as I wrapped my arms around her, she gasped, eyes flying up to my face. "You didn't tell me it was him."

Looking up, I sought out Leah, who looked just as surprised as I. "How do you know that?"

"Some of this blood isn't yours." Her mouth pulled into a tight frown. "Edward always smelled different to me. Made my head spin in a way the others didn't. Probably because I was in closer contact with him. I can't smell him, exactly...but I got that same dizzy feeling."

"Pff. And that douche bag thinks she can be normal. She's sniffing out leeches!" Paul bullied his way past the pair of us, pausing only to ruffle up Red's hair as he headed for the kitchen. "He's kind of an ass, Bells. I don't know what you saw in him. I mean, he actually asked Sam if you could talk to him. Hello chauvinistic much? Sam told him you did what you want, and that he wasn't your keeper. Told Cullen if you wanted to talk to his sparkling ass, it would be on your own damn terms."

Over Red's head, I gave Paul a grateful look. He wasn't just being obnoxious; he was letting Red know I'd fully intended to tell her about Cullen. "I'll go shower, and then we can talk. We'll do this whatever way you want, okay? This is effectively the Red show."

The pack had made their exist by the time I finished my shower. I found Red more or less scrubbing the skin off her hands, at the kitchen sink. They were pink, and raw beneath the suds.

Taking her hands gently into my own, I hauled her up against me. "Hey, hey. What are you doing? Come on Red, talk to me." This was what I was worried about; the Freak Out.

"Had his blood on my hands," Red grumbled, eyes narrowed darkly. "I couldn't get it off. That shit sticks. God, Sam. I can't even believe the nerve of him. Is that what he told you? That he wanted me to have a normal life? Is that his story?"

"Pretty much," I acknowledged, lifting her fingers to my mouth so I could kiss them. "Red, if you don't want to talk to him, no one expects him too. You want him gone, you just say the word. He broke the treaty-"

"He what?"

Oh. In my effort for full disclosure, I hadn't considered how I'd explain the half of it. But then, when it came to Red and I, honesty seemed to be the best policy. "He uh...he attacked me. He was under the assumption that I'd...hurt you."

"Hurt me?" Her brow pulled together, as she shook her head. "What? Why on earth...how would he even draw that conclusion?"

I snorted. "Well, apparently his sister saw something. Add to the fact that he uh...he found your tank top. We must have left it behind. He thought I...well." I didn't want to say it. Just thinking about it made me want to puke.

Her eyes widened in understanding. "Christ. The boy set him right, of course? I can't believe the nerve of him. To think he can show up now and defend me? Where was he before? Where was he when I needed him?"

"You never needed him," I snapped, making Red gasped. Instantly contrite, I gathered her up into my arms. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It's only just...you never needed him, okay? You had us. You have us. We're your family, forever and always, Red. And he knows that now." I paused, considering my words. I'd tell her, of course, but it was still such a delicate subject to her. "He knows about our ceremony. He knows what your anklet means."

Her eyes dropped to her feet -or rather, to her ankles- and then she looked up at me. "I wouldn't have hid it, even if you hadn't told him. I'd have told him."

"So how do you want to do this?" I lifted her up at the waist, and set her on the counter, earning a mock-reproachful glare. She acted like she hated my manhandling, but I knew she loved it. I liked to think it made her feel safe. "We can meet at the treaty line, or in Forks or-"

"Port Angelas," Red interrupted, spreading her knees so I could stand between them. She fiddled with the brassy button of my jeans, and if her stare was far-off, it was also calculating. "I don't like him here. I don't want him on our land."

Our land. To hear her claim it so freely, it made me want to bend her over and fuck her again. That, of course, could have been the adrenalin talking. Instead, I buried my face into the bend of her neck, and nipped at the skin there.

"I can't ban him from Forks," I told her, mouth pressed against her skin. "Our treaty covers only Quileute tribal lands. Forks isn't my territory."

She tugged me back, and kissed me firmly on the mouth. "Maybe so, but it is mine. He has no place here, any more. In my opinion, he abandoned his rights to Forks when he abandoned me. I think Edward owes me that much."

"That much and more," I agreed, tugging at a curl in her hair. That he could give her so much more than I wasn't lost on me either. But Red didn't seem like the material sort.

She laid her hand over mine, and smiled softly. "Good thing that's all I want, huh?"

The girl could read me like a book. "Okay, so Port Angelas. No mans land, so to speak. Then what?"

"Somewhere public." She bit her lip, brow pulling together to form that little wrinkle she got when she was thinking. "Lets invite him to dinner."

"But he can't eat," I reminded her, wondering what she had planned.

Red snorted. "That's sort of the point. You with me on this?"

"You know I am," I told her, with total honesty. However Red wanted to handle this, I'd support her. "Come on, the day is early and it's still my birthday."

"Want to help me finish the cake?" Red asked, with a lopsided smile. "I'll let you lick the spoon and you can help me frost it, when we're finished."

"Can that be a euphemism for something sexy?"

Red made a face, half-scowl, and half-pout. "Don't expect to be buying seasonal tickets to the Red Wings game. That was a one time thing." She sighed, flashing me a quick smile as she tugged on my belt loops. "I guess I could blow you though."

As it turned out, Red's way involved reservations at seven for a table of three, much to my annoyance. It certainly wasn't the type of restaurant I'd have pegged her for, with it's linen napkins and crystal glasses. Not to mention the dress-code. With my knees shoved forcibly up under the tiny square table, I was sweating my balls off in polyblend pants.

"Now isn't that just a lovely and descriptive thought," Cullen said dryly, from across the table. He traced his fingertip around the wine glass in front of him and sighed.

Grinning wickedly, I shot him an amused look. "You don't know how descriptive I can get, buddy." If I let my mind wander to Red, so what? It was practically innocent; the wild mess of her hair, dark against our pillows, the curve of her side where she lay in bed beside me, my fingers dancing down her back, trailing the little bumps of her spine, her panties flying across the room, landing on the bedside lamp. And those were just my favorite moments of this morning.

Cullen's scowl deepened. "Shouldn't Bella be here by now?"

I shrugged. Red had opted to pick up a ride with Embry or Jake, for reasons she wouldn't explain to me. I had a hunch that she wanted to make Cullen sweat it out a bit, with only me for company. "Hey, I'm not her keeper. Red does what she wants. Who knows, maybe she blew you off." And maybe she had; I certainly wouldn't have blamed her.

"She'd be blowing you off too."

"That's funny. You're funny. Did you forget that we live together? Share the same bed? The same towels? The same bar of soap? Hell, I'm pretty sure we only have one toothbrush between the two of us." I laughed loudly at his thoroughly disgruntled expression, and ignored the offended glared it earned me. "Red can blow me any time she wants."

"Well that's good to know."

I turned in my seat, and grinned when I saw her. Red had gone all out for the occasion. She'd never been much for make up, not that I'd ever minded, but tonight she'd gone far and beyond her usual regimen of moisturizer and mascara. She was wearing a red dress I'd never seen before, though I didn't doubt the color choice was deliberate. Though, if Red wasn't much the make-up type, she was even less a little-red-dress type. It was a short-cut thing, stopping mid thigh, with cap sleeves, and a very low-cut front. She was bra-less, but then, when wasn't she?

Oh but the heels were what did it for me, those black stiletto death traps. I wondered what it would take to get her to wear those and absolutely nothing else. If they looked good on her feet, they'd look even better over my shoulders.

I stood; it seemed like the proper thing to do. My knees banged against the underside of the table as I did so, jarring everything on top. Cullen followed suit, with far more grace of course, straightening out the lapels of his jacket as he did so.

Red paid him no mind, as she grinned up at me. She was nervous or scared; I could hear it in the way her heart hammered in her chest. Cullen could hear it too, I was sure, and I hoped he knew that fear was his fault.

Still, she smiled, a half-cocked thing meant just for me. "You clean up real nice, Uley. If I'd known you looked so pretty in a suit, I might have married you the proper way." I had to give her props for slipping our marriage into the conversation so seamlessly. Beside us, Cullen flinched minutely, eyes dropping to Red's ankle, where our veritable wedding wring sat.

I smirked, letting my eyes skim shamelessly along her chest, and all the little freckles there I knew better than the stars in the sky. "You're not so bad yourself. Where did you get this dress?."

Honestly, if she had more of these little gems hanging in our closet, I was going to have to take her out more often. And hell, I could do that now. Money couldn't make a man happy, but it could make a man happier. "I like it. Alright, give me a little spin. I want to see all of it." Or maybe I just wanted to look at her ass, while showing Cullen what he'd missed out on. But I had a suspicion that was what the bells and whistles were for. To show Cullen just what he'd given up.

Or rather, what had been made mine.

I took her hand, and held it up, and she rolled her eyes all through the impromptu pirouette. When she was finished, Red smirked, eyes bright, even in the low restaurant light. "I borrowed it from your mother."

Oh gross. My mother had no business wearing seductive little red dresses. But then... "Well isn't that just one more reason for me to take it off you?" And burn it.

"Ahem."

Red's smile froze on her face as she turned to him, our fingers tangling themselves up out of habit. "Edward." Her voice was tight, and she stared at him for a long, silent moment, until he couldn't take it and began to squirm.

"Why don't we sit down?" I pulled the chair out beside me. "I haven't ordered yet; I wanted to wait for you." Red wasn't late, per se, but our persistent waitress had dropped the table three times. I wasn't exactly sure who she was more interested in, me or Cullen, but judging from the snobby put-upon face Cullen wore, I'd put money on myself.

"You didn't have to wait." Red frowned at me, and I could have laughed. She knew how much the wolves hated waiting on food. I was fairly sure nothing would be fully cooked if Red didn't cook it herself."You could have ordered for me; you know what I like."

"We haven't been waiting long," Edward cut in, clearing his throat. "Alice would be proud, I think. You're fashionably late, as they say."

Red stared at him again, a beat to long to be socially acceptable. "Alice didn't tell you I'd be late, then? She would have been watching, I assume."

"Oh, no. It seems that the wolves affect her ability. We only just put two-and-two together, though. Before, the black spots in her Visions drove her mad."

Red made a noise in the back of her throat, a tiny little growl I'd learn to be wary of. She'd bypassed scared and nervous, it would seem, and skipped straight to pissed. "So you've had Alice baby-sitting me. All this time, you've had her watching."

Edward looked startled, mouth falling open in protest."No, of course not-"

She gave him a wry smile. "No? Okay, so you left me high and dry, without any sort of safety net" Ah. Edward was about to be formally introduced to Woman's Logic. Otherwise known as a rock and a hard place. Either way, he was in the wrong. Red was more or less a black belt in circular arguments. She could mind-fuck an apology out of any one of the wolves. " What if something had happened to me Edward? What if Victoria had come for me? What if I decided to take a short walk off a tall cliff. What if-"

"Victoria?" Edward breathed. "No, no Alice would have seen-"

"You said it yourself." Red's voice was soft, but her words were firm. "Alice's visions are affected by our pack. So which his it, Edward? Was she watching, or wasn't she?" Her eyes were locked on him, jaw clenched tightly. She held herself stiffly, shoulders back and head high, as if she'd lunge across the table and stab him with a dinner knife, were the opportunity to present itself.

Edward looked way, fingers fiddling with the corner of his linen napkin. "I don't control the family Bella, you know that. If she looked-"

"That's funny," Red interrupted him again; it seemed to be a theme. "It certainly seemed as if you controlled them when they packed up and left me without so much as a goodbye, on your say so. People who claimed to care about me, who called me daughter, and sister, simply turned their backs and disappeared, all because you were bored."

Her heart was hammering, but other than that...Red barely moved a muscle. I curled a warm palm over the back of her neck, thumb brushing her jaw. "We can leave, if you like."

"I didn't risk stilettos to turn heel and run at the first sign of tension." She turned, and kissed my wrist. "I'm alright, really. Just...venting, I suppose. I've had so much to say, for so long...I think I forgot myself, for a moment."

"Bella-"

"Shut up, I wasn't finished," Red cut him off, yet again. She didn't seem particularly interested in anything he had to say. "Regardless of what you had your sister do, or not do, you left me alone and unguarded. It's your luck, and my own, that the wolves were there when I needed them. Because you led a lot of things to my doorstep, Edward. Laurent, Kate, Victoria... There were times when I was sure I'd never be safe. There were times when I thought dying would be better than looking over my shoulder." She'd never told me that, and it hurt to hear. Red must have sensed my sudden tension. She laid her hand over mine, and smiled. "But then I met Sam. He straightened my ass out, that was for sure. Edward..."

"I wanted to protect you," Edward muttered, looking at the table top. "You're breakable, fragile-"

"Compared to you," Red conceded. "But...really, I'm just as solid as the next human. And that...that's the problem, between you and I. You treated me like a fragile doll, and I treated you like a human." Cullen looked like he might protest. "No! I did! I did. There were things...that I handled poorly. You weren't never just a boyfriend. You're a vampire. You're a vampire pretending to be human, so that's how I'm going to treat you now, Edward."

The waitress chose that moment to interrupt, her cheerful smile dimming as she saw Red tucked into my side. I grinned smugly, and didn't miss Red's amused smile as well. At least she wasn't the jealous type. Edward made the mistake of ordering the special, under Red's recommendation. It turned out to be brandade, some sort of French pureed fish, which frankly sounded revolting.

But then, I was sure that was Red's intention, the devious little minx.

When the waitress departed, Red turned back to Edward, wasting no time getting back to the point. "Why are you here?"

"Alice saw-"

"No," Red lifted her other hand, and silenced him. "Not good enough. It's been three years, Edward. Three years, and then some. You chose to come running because your sister had a half-cocked vision now?"

"She saw me, in the forest. She told me all I could smell was your blood." He looked away again, eyes unfocused. "I had to come, because Alice-"

"Because she saw it." Red rolled her eyes. "That's called a self full-filling prophecy. There was no reason to come. You came because she saw it. There was no reason she saw it. It was simply one path, one road among a million others! You know that, I know that you know that because you told me. You came because...because why?"

Edward looked hurt. "I thought you were dead! I thought I could stop it. Bella...You have to know that the last thing I ever wanted for you was death. I only wanted to protect you! I only wanted-"

"That's the real reason you left." Red looked at him, as if daring him to deny it. "That was why you left like you did. You were afraid of hurting me, or killing me. And that's fine, you were right to worry. You were right to worry, because back then? That's what I wanted. I wanted to be like you."

Cullen nodded slowly. "I never wanted that for you. This life...what I am-"

"Yeah well, I don't want that for me anymore either." Casting a quick glance at me, Red took a deep, fortifying breath. "I'm not the Bella you left behind Edward. And I don't need you to come running because you think I'm in danger. Because the only thing I'm in danger of...is you."

"I would never-"

"You would never mean it," Red finished for him. "And that's what makes you more dangerous. I know that now. I know that I put more trust in you than you could handle. It isn't to say that you wanted to hurt me, but I was putting my faith against your nature, and that wasn't fair to either of us. You're not like me; you don't bleed like me, you don't breath like me. You're dangerous, but you're not a monster," she finished, almost softly. "You're just...you're just a dumb kid with a woe-is-me attitude in a world that's moved on without him."

Expectantly indignant, Edward's gaze narrowed. "I'm not-"

"You'll always be seventeen, Edward." She gave him a genuine smile, soft and knowing. It was a million miles from the girl I'd found in the woods, or the girl I'd found on the road. "The world will always seem unfair to you. This isn't any different. I want you to leave Forks. I don't want you to come back."

"This is my family's home," Edward pleaded. "Carlisle and Esme-"

"Carlisle and Esme hurt me too." Red refused to budge on the subject. "They have other homes, but I just have the one. Forks is mine now; I think you owe me that much. I want the comfort of knowing that I won't ever have to see your face again. I want the comfort of knowing that any children I might have won't be affected by your presence here. I love my wolves, I love them dearly, but I wouldn't wish their curse on any one."

If I flailed at the mention of possible children, well no one could blame me. Red had been thinking about it. And if they were only now hypothetical possibilities, well that was more than she'd offered me before.

"Wipe that sappy smile off your face Sammy," Red said, squeezing my hand. Her eyes were still pinned on Cullen, who looked crushed beneath the weight of his own sad little world. "I said might. Might."

Of course she could see it on my face. God, from the obvious way I reacted to the mention of babies, you'd have thought I had a uterus or something. Snorting, I lifted her hand to kiss it. Red could read me like a book. Babies or no, I'd love her to death and beyond. "I didn't say a thing."

Cullen's mouth pulled into a tight line. "Bella..."

"No," She lifted a hand. "No. This is the part where I treat you as you are. A vampire playing human. Play it somewhere else. You've got the means, you've got the time. Just...leave."

"Is that really what you want?" Cullen asked. "Nothing else? I'm sure Esme would be more than willing to leave you the house-"

"Oh my God," Red snapped, losing her cool just like that. "No. Vehemently no. No to the power of hell fucking no. Squared. You'll be damn lucky I don't set fire to that thing, Edward. Because I wanted to, there were times when I came very close. It would not be the first house I burn down in a fit of stupid, angst-filled rage." FIre flared behind her eyes, bright and indignant, but then it was gone. Red reeled it in, and took a deep, fortifying breath. "No."

"Is everything alright?" The waitress asked, standing at our table, her hands laden with plates. She looked nervously between our trio. "Um..."

"Oh no, everything fine," Red was quick to assure her, squeezing my hand beneath the table. "Mild disagreement, is all. Ooh, bread sticks." She grabbed a bread stick from the basket, and nibbled at the end like she hadn't just been violently cursing out the undead. "Want a bread stick Edward?" She offered sweetly. Apparently she meant what she'd said. She was going to treat him like a vampire pretending to be a human. "I hear garlic is really good for your blood pressure."

Cullen made a face, either at her lame stab at garlic-jokes, or his lack of blood. "No thank you." He picked up his fork, and pushed the pureed cod around on his plate. "You know that I can't guarantee other vampires won't-"

"We have that covered." Red rolled her eyes. I would have been more insulted has she taken it upon herself to defend my honor, or something. "Giant pack of wolves, remember? They handled themselves without you before, and they'll be fine when you're gone for good. If more vampires come, then so shall the wolves. That's how it works. That's the balance. Stop playing with your food, and eat it."

"Bella, you know I can't-"

"Don't and can't are not the same thing." She grinned. "I told you I'd treat you as you acted. Humans eat. Also, I'm feeling petty and vindictive and I want to watch you eat that fish. Eat the fish, Edward."

"I didn't even like fish as a human," Edward muttered, switching his fork to a spoon. "It smells like-"

The situation was almost sureal; a vampire, a werewolf and his wife all walk into a bar... But then, what could I do? I told Red I'd follow her lead, and so I did.

"Cod?" I suggested, rolling with the abrupt and weird subject change. If Red wanted to be petty, I wouldn't spite her. She seemed intent on acting as if she hadn't just banned the boy from his homeland or something. But if Cullen was willing to accept her word as law, I knew I'd breath far easier. "Maybe bass? All fish sort of smell the same to me."

"This chicken is delicious. Try this." Red lifted her fork to my mouth in a shameless display of domesticity. "What is that? Wine? It's kind of sweet."

"Smells like brandy," Edward muttered from across the table, staring down into his plate of mushy fish. "If you two would rather be alone, I could-"

Red laughed, but there was nothing cruel in it. "Of course you can go. I might be petty, but I'm not a bitch." Whether she was talking about us or the dish, I couldn't say. "I wasn't going to make you suffer through all of this. Just wanted to watch you squirm a little." She pushed up from her seat, and forced me to follow suit. "If you'd like to speak any more before you leave, toe the boarder line and let one of the wolves know. But...I've said my piece. You're a good person Edward, with good intentions. But none of those good intentions have a place here."

"I understand why you're asking me to leave. It won't be any easier this time, than it was the last. I did suffer, Bella. I did miss you, every day, but I've only ever wanted what was best. Good intentions, as you say." Cullen riffled through the inside pocket of his jacket, and pulled out a card. "Please don't be so quick to discard this. It's...it's the life-line I denied you before. It's an address. Write there, should you have any problems, and we'll come to your aid. This offer is indefinite. Your pack gave us a home once, and respected us. No one knows what the future holds, but if you find yourself needing help, the Cullen's will be there."

Red took the card before I could. "This is it," she said, sucking in a deep breath. "This is good bye." She offered her hand.

"You're not anything like what I remember," Edward admitted, taking her hand into both of his. "I feel like I should fight for you. You're worth it, you know? I'd fight for you."

"I will literally set you on fire," Red said with a smile. "I'm not it for you Edward. You're young, aren't you? Carlisle was twice your age when he finally found Esme. Give it time. You'll find your soul mate."

"Soul mate," Edward echoed, eyes flickering between Red and I. I flashed him a dangerous look

'We had an agreement,' I thought fiercely. "We won't keep you any longer."

"I'm glad you found yours," Edward said boldly, raising her hand to kiss her knuckles. "I think I can be happy for you eventually, Bella."

I watched out the corner of my eye as she wiped he hand off on her dress. "I'd like it if you were happy for yourself." Stepping back, she curled herself into me. "Don't look back, Edward."

And to his credit, he didn't.

"That wasn't what I expected," I admitted, on the drive home. Every overhead street light painted swatched of white across the other wise black road. Red flashed me a smile, before turning her gaze back to the window, where the trees blurred as we drove by.

"What did you expect?" She traced her finger through the condensation on the glass. "That I'd throw a fit? Scream? Cry? Go back to the burning ball of rage I once was?"

Really, I hadn't expected any of that. For all that she raged, she'd never been particularly prone to tears. "I thought you'd be angry."

She snorted. "I have nothing to be angry about. I'm not mad at him, anymore. Not really mad. I'm not the heartbroken girl he left behind." She paused, turning to face me again, and to reach across the seats and take my hand. "Being angry at him? It seems selfish to me. To be angry, I think I'd have to miss him, or what we were, or...or something. I'd have to regret. But I don't. Because my life now? With you? It's crazy perfect. It's...how could I want more? How could I miss that? How could I regret anything, if it meant I got to be here, with you? If being hurt, like I was...being left behind like that...if all that means I get to be here, right now, with you...then it's worth it."

Pulling the truck to the side of the road, I cut the engine. With a deceleration like that, how could I not kiss her?

She was right.

Our life was crazy perfect.

The End.