(A/N: I know, I know, these chapters have been few and far between and I wish I could say I'll catch up on it but I'll be going on vacation next week so I can't promise that either. Hopefully after that I'll be able to update the chapters more regularly. No naughty in this chapter, after all, I doubt Bella would really be in the mood. As usual, I love reading your reviews, so let me know what you think.)
Unaware of the changes going on in Volterra, Bella was simply hugging herself on the bench while Emmett and Rosalie took care of the 'evidence'. She couldn't believe what she'd just done. For the first time Bella truly understood why Rosalie and Edward for that matter had never wanted her to become a vampire. Her mind was torn in two. Part of her wanting to just run away and never interact with another person, and the other part that wanted to feed on whoever was unfortunate enough to walk by her.
It would be so easy, wouldn't it? To just live like a regular vampire. Who said she had to be a vegetarian? The fact was, she'd never tasted anything she could remember that was as good as that girl's blood. She could still taste it on her tongue. With her very soul, assuming she still had one. Bella knew now what she'd been depriving herself of and it was surprisingly irritating. It's much easier to resist what you don't know.
But of course that wasn't Bella. It just wasn't in her nature to knowingly kill people regardless of the payoff. The only reason she was even entertaining the thoughts was because if she got used to feeding on humans maybe the immense guilt she currently felt would fade and she wouldn't want anything more than to simply end it all. But that wouldn't stop the fact that someone was dead and if it wasn't for her they'd still be alive…
"Bella? We…um…we took care of everything." Rosalie said, timidly.
Bella let out a dry laugh. "You couldn't have taken care of everything unless you can raise the dead."
Rosalie's face soured as she tried to think of a reply.
"Bella, really, it isn't that big of a deal. Almost all of us have done it at some point." Emmett said, with a shrug.
Bella's eyes narrowed into a glare. "I know you're trying to help, Em, but…" She just let the sentence trail off with a sigh.
Rosalie put her arm on Bella's shoulder. "Emmett, why don't you get some contacts for Bella." She subtly suggested.
Bella gave Rosalie a skeptical look. "Contacts?"
"Your eyes are kinda the Red Sea at the moment, Bella." Emmett pointed out.
Bella was confused at first but as soon as she got Emmett's meaning, her face contorted in an odd position and let out an even odder sound.
Emmett and Rosalie traded glances. "Uh…is she crying?"
Rosalie gave a closer look to Bella. "I…think she is…"
"But…vampires can't cry…" Emmett looked even more confused.
Bella let out an even louder wail. "Tell that to her." Rosalie pointed out. "Now go get the damn contacts."
Emmett gave Bella another weirded out look before shrugging it off and dashing away, while muttering intelligibly about crazy girls.
"You know Bella…the Red Sea isn't…actually red..."
Bella wailed even louder.
Rosalie pulled Bella into an embrace, patting her back. "Bella, come on now. It's going to be okay, even Esme's slipped before. It's just…part of being one of us…"
(A/N: Yeah, there's no actual proof that Esme's fed on someone before but it's never been mentioned that she hasn't, so I'm going to assume that she had when she was a newborn.)
"No it's not, Rose." Bella finally choked out. "Not only did I let the family I didn't drive away down, but we're all going to have to move now. And Jacob and wolves will be after us, which is going to make Nessie hate me and-"
Rosalie put her finger on Bella's lips, shushing her. "Look Bella, we just told our family that you dumped Edward for me and, by extension, Emmett. If we were to, say, get a little alone time for a bit until your eyes went back to normal, no one would think twice. And what the mutts don't know won't hurt them."
"Rose!" Bella growled.
"What? If we don't tell them, they won't know. And if they don't know, no broken treaty. Me and Emmett checked. The girl wasn't from here. From the maps in her car, she was just passing through, so it'll take awhile for anyone to even realize she's missing. And without any body or evidence of the body-"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it, okay…" Bella muttered.
"You're a much better liar than you were when you were a human. It wouldn't be the first time we've kept a secret." Rosalie said, reassuringly.
"It's not the same, Rose! I'm a murderer!" Bella growled.
"So am I." Rose replied in monotone.
Bella paused before taking a deep breath. "The people you killed deserved it… Mine was an innocent."
"Murder's murder, Bella. You can't beat yourself over it when you do it and justify it when I do. In fact, would you be nearly this upset over it if I was the one who killed her?" Rosalie asked, making eye contact.
A very small smirk crossed Bella's face. "…no…I'd be the one cheering you up then…"
"Then let me cheer you up, you difficult, silly girl." Rosalie stated, sternly as she tenderly rested her forehead against Bella's.
Bella let out a loud sigh. "I don't want to have to lie about this, Rose…"
"Sweety, part of being an adult is doing things you don't want to do. And lying's just a part of being a vampire. You'll get used to it. And whenever it gets too much for you, just remember that I'm here."
Bella smirked a little wider. "I love you, Rose. You know that, right?"
Rosalie gave a little chuckle. "Of course you do. I'm me after all."
Both Bella and Rosalie suddenly looked up as they heard a noise. It was very faint but they could hear it easily with their ears. It was one of them. Or to be more specific, two of them which ruled out it being Emmett. He definitely would have come alone. Whoever it was, was heading straight for them. It wouldn't be long down before they could actually see who it was, friend or foe.
"…oh you've got to be fucking kidding me…" Rosalie grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Is that-?" Bella started, but was unable to finish as the form damn near slammed into her, wrapping her into an embrace.
"Bella!" Mike exclaimed, twirling her around.
(A/N: Ereh? Confused much? For those who don't remember, I said this would be in the same world as my previous story, "Mike's Chance". Read it to find out the specifics but basically if you don't want to read it, at the end of that story, time was restarted and Mike went stag to Bella's wedding and ended up hooking up with Tanya, who turned him. On with the story!)
"Mike! Put me down!" Bella choked out, though to be truthful she was thankful for the distraction.
"Sorry." Mike apologized. "Still don't completely know my own strength, ya know? How've you been?"
"I've been better." Bella's face soured, before something hit her. "Wait…how'd you find us?"
Mike put some effort into calming down before he replied. "Well, we went by the house and they said you guys kinda dropped a…bomb on them and left to give it some time to sink in."
"…yeah…" Bella muttered. "Did they happen to tell you what the bomb was?"
"Not really, but-"
"Wait a minute…" Rosalie interrupted. "You never answered the question."
Mike thought about it. "Oh, right. I didn't, did I? Apparently I'm a tracker." He said with a shrug.
Both Bella and Rosalie traded glances.
"Nowhere near Demetri level or anything, but I'm pretty decent. Guess all those years working in that outfitters store really paid off." Mike answered, flashing a grin.
It was then that Bella noticed Mike's companion. "Hi Tanya."
"Hello Bella." Tanya stated. "I find it only polite to apologize beforehand."
"Apologize? For what?" Bella asked.
A loud crack rang throughout the area that most people would have thought was thunderclap as Bella landed on the floor from the force of Tanya's punch. Rosalie immediately went to crouch and was about to pounce on Tanya but Bella was already back up and held her back.
"Rosalie, stop." Bella said calmly with a sigh, as she turned back to Tanya. "You know about Edward?"
Tanya nodded. "He's one of the most genuinely nice people I know. He didn't deserve that." The look on Mike's face showed that he was clearly clueless about the whole situation. Chances are it was Tanya's idea to visit the Cullens in the first place.
"I agree with you wholeheartedly. I only did it because it wouldn't be fair to him if I'd have stayed with him. Are we okay now?" Bella asked, putting out her hand.
Tanya paused, looking at Bella's outstretched hand. It looked like she wasn't going to take it but she put out her hand as well but before the two hands could connect Rosalie was standing between them. "Rose, please." Bella pleaded.
"Let me make myself clear, Tanya. I don't care about your reasoning, and despite what you might think about me, Edward's a brother to me and I will always love him as such. But I swear if you ever lay so much as a finger on Bella again I will end you." Rosalie threatened.
"Rosalie, I-"
"I. Will. End. You." Rosalie practically roared. "Are we clear?"
Tanya nodded with an understanding look. "Crystal." After all, if anyone had done that to Mike she'd have had the same reaction, but she needed to get that out and Bella let her. Not to mention, she was right. If Bella was no longer in love with Edward, continuing to be with him would have just been cruel.
"Good." Rosalie stated, letting the two shake hands.
"So…" Tanya started. "Couldn't help noticing the eyes…"
"Um…about that…" Bella trailed off.
"Emmett! Thank God!" Mike exclaimed, ecstatic to not be the only guy between all of the vampire-equivalent-to-estrogen fueled drama.
Needless to say Emmett was more than a little confused by the two new additions. "Um…what did I miss exactly?"
"Nothing!" Bella, Rosalie, and Tanya said in unison.
Emmett gave Mike a look, and the look he got in return let him know not to press it any further.
"What?" Mike asked, noticing Bella was giving him a look.
"Mike, you said you were a decent tracker, right?" She asked.
"Yeah…as long as I have their scent…" Mike replied, skeptically.
Bella grinned. "Great. Could you find someone for me?"
Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location, a certain vampire's eyes shot wide. "Dammit, Mike!" Alice exclaimed.